LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


AMONG 


THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA 


EIGHTEEN    MONTHS    EXPERIENCE 
AS  AN    INDIAN    AGENT. 


3.—  Fisherman— Master,  I  marvel  how  the  fishes  live  in  the  sea. 
1. — Fisherman — Why,  as  men  do  a  land  : 

The  great  ones  eat  the  little  ones. 

— SHAKESPEABE. 


CAPTAIN  D.  C.  POOLE, 

22d  Infantry,  U.  S.  A. 


NEW  YORK  : 

D.    VAN    NOSTRAND,    PUBLISHER, 
23  MURRAY  AND  27  WARREN  STREET. 

1881. 


COPYRIGHT,  D.  VAN  NOSTRAND,  1881. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Military  Order  —Instructions  from  Office  of  Indian  Affairs 
— Study  of  the  Map —Indefinite  Knowledge  of  Sioux 
Indian  Country  —Arrival  in  Sioux  City  ...  9 

CHAPTER  II. 

Tortuous  Course  of  Missouri — Distance  by  River  and  by 
Stage— Discomforts  of  Travel — Arrival  in  Yankton  •  17 

CHAPTER  III. 

Yankton,  D.  T — Interview  with  Governor  and  Ex-officio 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  -Difficulties  in  Navi 
gating  the  Missouri  River — An  Impatient  Savage  -  22 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Arrival  at  Whitestone  Creek  Reservation — Its  Location  and 
Description— Extent  of  the  Sioux  Reservation  under 
Treaty  of  1868— Different  Bands— Number  of  Sioux 
supplied  at  Whetstone 29 

CHAPTER  V. 

Inspection  of  Property  for  Use  of  Indians  -Agricultural 
Implements —Rations — Cultivated  Land,  its  Products 
—Want  of  Interest  by  Indians — First  Attempt  to  Cul 
tivate  the  Soil  -  -  •  '  •  -  •  .35 

225765 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Announcing  Arrival — Indian  Council — Appearance  of 
Chief s-The  "Talk"  .  ,  40 

CHAPTER  VIE. 
Manner  of  Issuing  Food  to  the  Indians— Cost  of  Same      -    45 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Indians  Looking  for  Annuity  Goods— Large  Number  of 
Indians  and  Small  Quantity  of  Goods  -  A  Dissatisfied 
Nomad  -  .  •  "52 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Pawnee  Scouts  destroy  Sioux  Camp — Mourning  Women 
and  Men — Pawnee  Scalps,  Triumphal  Procession  -  58 

CHAPTER   X. 

Issue  of  Ready-made  Clothing— Treatment  of  Same  by  the 
Indians— Expensive  Experiment  -  ...  -64 

CHAPTER  XL 

Sioux  and  Poncas  Make  Peace— How  Indians  make  Treaties 
with  Each  Other  and  Break  Them  •  67 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Churches  and  School-houses — Indian  Religion  and  Super 
stition—Total  Eclipse  of  1869  73 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Intoxicating  Liquor  Among  Indians— Their  Usual  Temper 
ate  Habits— The  Chief  Big  Mouth  Receives  his  Death - 
wound  from  Spotted  Tail  -  -  78 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Death  of  Big  Mouth -        -    89 


CONTENTS.  5 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Texas  Beef  Cattle — How  Managed — Indians  iii  Pastoral 
Life  in  place  of  Agricultural  Pursuits  -  -  94 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Distinguished  Chiefs  Arrive  at  the  Agency  for  the  Winter 
— Pawnee  Killer  and  Buck  Surveying  Party — Indians 
and  Indians 101 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Discontent — Expeditions  to  Explore  the  Black  Hills  and 
Wolf  Mountains  -  108 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Dakota  Blizzard — Arrival  of  a  Large  Quantity  of  Indian 
Goods— Talks  About  Cultivating  the  Soil  -  112 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Spotted  Tail  as  a  Farmer — His  Camp  at  a  Distance  from 
the  Agency — Its  Contentment  Away  from  Civilizing 
Influences  -  117 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Winter,  How  Passed — Young  Braves  Dreaming  of  Scalps 
and  Stealing  Horses — No  Taste  for  Farming  -  126 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Rumors  of  Discontent  Among  Sioux  Indians— Spotted  Tail 
and  Others  Invited  to  Washington  by  the  President  -  133 

CHAPTER    XXII. 
Chiefs  Consent  to  Go— Preparations— En-route  to  Yankton  139 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Effects  of  Short  Associations  Among  Whites— Arrival  at 
Sioux  City— Interview— Palace  Car— In  Chicago  -  144 


6  CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Sumptuous  Surroundings — Views  of  Those  "Remote  from 
Indians — How  Dealt  With  in  the  Past — How  They 
Should  be  Treated  Now— Arrival  in  Washington  -  151 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Visitors  at  Their  Hotel— Invitations  to  Fairs  and  Exhibi 
tions — Their  Israelitish  Descent — Cherokees  and  White 
Blood  .  -  155 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

First  Interview  with  the  Commissioner — Visits  at  General 
Sherman's — Smithsonian  Institute  and  Mount  Vernon  159 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Meeting  of  Spotted  Tail  and  Red  Cloud— Call  at  the  White 
House.  -  -  164 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Call  on  Secretary  of  the  Interior — Visit  the  Capitol  when 
House  is  in  Session  -  .  -  -  .  -  -^  -  170 

CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Visit  the  Arsenal  and  Navy  Yard  Under  Direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  and  Navy 175 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

Levee  at  Presidential  Mansion  Given  to  Indians         -        -  181 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Leave  Washington — Stop  at  Philadelphia— Union  League 
— U.  S.  Mint  -  -  -  188 

CHAPTER  XXXIT. 

Visits  in  New  York — Broadway  and  Central  Park— On 
Board  French  Frigate  -  -  -  -  •  •  -  194 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Return  Home— Stop  in  Chicago— Purchase  of  Horses  and 

Clothing— Arrival  at  the  Agency  -        ...  203 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Affairs  at  the  Agency— Difficulty  in  Suppressing  Whiskey 
Traffic— Visit  from  Wm.  Welsh— Fire  Thunder- 
Change  of  Agency 209 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Sioux  Indians  as  Historians— Hunting  on  the  Republican 
in  Kansas -Number  of  Beef  Cattle  on  Hand— Wolf 
Hunt  of  Medicine  Men  -  217 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Leave  the  Sioux  After  Eighteen  Months  Intercourse — Some 

Reflections  on  the  Indian  Question       ....  225 
Appendix         ----...._  231 


CHAPTER  I. 

MILITARY     ORDER INSTRUCTIONS     FROM     OFFICE     OF    INDIAN 

AFFAIRS  — STUDY     OF     THE     MAP INDEFINITE    KNOWLEDGE 

OF    SIOUX    INDIAN    COUNTRY ARRIVAL    IN    SIOUX    CITY. 

JN  May,  1869,  while  stationed  at  McPherson 
Barracks,  Atlanta,  Ga,,  having  just  passed 
through  one  of  the  convulsions  resulting  in 
consolidation  of  the  army  by  Congress,  I  re 
ceived  the  following  order  from  the  Head- 
quarters  of  the  Army  : 

HEAD  QRS.  or  THE  ARMY,       ) 
ADJUTANT  GENERAL'S  OFFICE,  > 
WASHINGTON,  May  7,  1869.     ) 
General  Orders 

No.  49. 

By  orders  received  from  the  War  Depart 
ment  the  following  named  officers,  left  out  of 
their  regimental  organizations  by  the  consolida 
tion  of  the  infantry  regiments,  are,  under  and 
by  authority  of  an  Act  of  Congress  organizing 
the  Indian  Department,  approved  June  30, 
1834,  hereby  detailed  to  execute  the  duties  of 
Indian  Superintendents  and  Agents,  and  imme- 


10  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

diately  on  receiving  notice  of  this  order,  will 
report  by  letter  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  Hon.  E.  S.  Parker,  Washington,  D.  C., 

for  assignment  to  duty  and  for  instructions. 
*  *  *  *  •* 

By  command  of 

GENERAL  SHERMAN. 
E.  D.  TOWN  SEND, 

Adjutant  General. 

After  having  reported,  in  accordance  with 
this  order,  there  followed  from  the  Interior 
Department  a  letter  of  instructions,  which  can 
best  be  understood  by  reading  the  following: 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR, 

OFFICE  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  14,  1869. 
SIR  :  Under  authority  conferred  by  the  4th 
section  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  approved  June 
30,  1834,  for  the  organization  of  the  Department 
of  Indian  Affairs,  and  making  it  competent  for 
the  President  of  the  United  States  to  require 
any  military  officer  to  execute  the  duties  of  In 
dian  Agent;  and  in  accordance  with  General 
Orders  49,  issued  from  the  Head  Quarters  of 
the  Army,  at  Washington,  dated  May  7,  1869, 
detailing  you  for  such  duty  and  directing  you 
to  report  to  this  office  for  assignment  thereto 
and  for  instructions,  you  are  hereby  notified 
that  you  are  assigned  to  the  position  of  Agent 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  11 

for  Indians  in  the  Sioux  District,  located  upon 
a  reservation  at  Whetstone  Creek,  Dakota  Ter 
ritory. 

Having  reported  here  agreeably  to  the  order 
referred  to,  you  are  now  instructed  to  proceed, 
without  unnecessary  delay,  to  your  agency, 
and  enter  upon  duty.  You  will  report  to 
*  *  *  Governor  and  ex-officio  Superintend 
ent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  Dakota  Territory, 
through  whom  your  official  correspondence 
must  be  conducted,  and  through  whom  you 
will  receive  from  this  office  such  instructions 
as  from  time  to  time  maybe  deemed  necessary. 

You  will  promptly  and  fully  advise  the  De 
partment  of  all  matters  of  interest  and  import 
ance  relating  to  the  condition  of  your  agency, 
make  such  suggestions  or  recommendations  in 
reference  thereto  as  in  your  judgment  may  be 
proper,  and  carry  faithfully  into  effect  the 
regulations  of  the  Department  and  the  instruc 
tions  that  may  be  given  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
and  your  Superintendent.  As  the  great  object 
of  the  Government  is  to  civilize  the  Indians  by 
locating  them  in  permanent  abodes  upon  suit 
able  reservations,  and  assisting  them  that  they 
may  sustain  themselves,  and  engage  in  the  pur 
suits  of  civilized  life,  you  are  earnestly  re 
quested  to  use  your  best  endeavor  to  advance 
this  humane  and  wise  policy.  Hence,  you  will 


2  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

use  every  means  practicable  to  inform  yourself 
as  fully  as  possible  respecting  the  condition  of 
the  Indians  in  your  charge,  and  inform  the  In 
dian  mind,  upon  every  favorable  opportunity, 
with  this  view  and  desire  of  the  Government, 
and  thus  prepare  them  to  submit  to  the  inevit 
able  change  of  their  mode  of  life  to  that  more 
congenial  to  a  civilized  state.  You  will  en 
deavor  to  keep  before  their  mind  the  benevolent 
institutions  of  the  Government,  and  in  your 
intercourse  with  them  seek  to  obtain  their  con 
fidence,  and  by  honest  and  just  dealings  secure 
that  peace  which  it  is  the  wish  of  all  good  citi 
zens  to  establish  and  maintain.  Your  success 
in  the  accomplishment  of  the  object  desired  will 
depend  greatly  upon  the  efficiency  and  discre 
tion  to  be  exercised  by  you,  and  in  the  eco 
nomical  expenditures  of  the  means  that  may 
be  placed  at  your  disposal ;  and  it  is  confi 
dently  hoped  that  the  result  will  prove  the 
wisdom  and  expediency  of  your  appointment 

for  duty  so  responsible. 

#  *  *  *  * 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

E.  S.  PAEKEE, 

Commissioner. 

Having  digested  the  order  and  instructions, 
and  having  packed  my  personal  effects  and 
made  ready  for  a  start,  I  turned  to  the  maps  to 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  IB 

learn  something  of  my  new  field  of  operations. 
A  large  space,  mark  el  Dakota,  was  a  blank, 
except  the  rather  erratic  black  line  which  marks 
the  progress  of  the  muddy  Missouri,  as,  start 
ing  from  the  southwest  in  Montana  Territory, 
it  follows  nearly  all  the  points  of  the  compass 
until  it  gradually  tends  towards  the  southeast 
on  its  way  to  the  Gulf;  and  a  few  old  Indian 
trading  posts,  dignified  by  the  name  of  military 
stations,  Fort  So-and-So,  but  posts  which  had 
never  sheltered  a  soldier  returning  from  dan 
gerous  scout  or  the  weary  tramp  of  explora 
tion,  and  the  three  genuine  United  States'  posts 
—Fort  Sully,  Fort  Randall  and  Fort  Eice. 
Fort  Buford  might  have  claimed  a  place,  but 
then,  as  now,  was  generally  ignored  by  map- 
makers  for  Fort  Union,  an  abandoned  Indian 
trading  post,  which  had  its  liveliest  existence 
half  a  century  ago.  But  any  point  established 
within  the  last  decade  was  a  blank.  Turning 
to  personal  inquiry,  I  elicited  about  the  same 
amount  of  information.  The  few  who  had  any 
knowledge  of  the  land  of  the  Dakotas  would 
say :  "  It's  a  terribly  cold  country  in  winter  and 
melting  hot  in  summer;  no  rain;  you  can't 
raise  anything,  and,  if  you  do,  the  grasshop 
pers  will  eat  it  up."  Also,  however,  that  when 
there  was  a  good  season  the  garrison  at  Fort 
Randall  raised  a  fine  crop  of  vegetables,  and 
the  troops  added  largely  to  their  company 


14  AMONG  THE   STOUX  OF   DAKOTA. 

funds  by  sales  to  steamboats,  and  to  the  pros 
pectors  and  miners  who  floated  down  the  river 
from  Montana  in  mackinacs  and  dugouts. 

I  also  remembered  reading  rather  glowing 
accounts  of  how  the  Nomads  had  been  moved 
from  the  Platte  River  and  nearness  to  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  by  that  gallant  soldier  and 
eminent  Indian  manager,  General  Harney,  and 
located  upon  the  rich  alluvial  soil  of  the  bot 
tom  lands  of  the  Missouri  in  Dakota  ;  of  what 
progress  they  had  made  in  the  pursuits  of  agri 
culture,  the  thousands  of  acres  ploughed,  the 
quantity  of  grain  which  would  be  raised  the 
coming  season,  and  something  near  a  sugges 
tion  that  at  no  distant  time  they  would  be 
sending  a  surplus  of  products  to  market  But, 
then,  more  was  to  be  learned  on  this  subject 
from  the  Governor  and  ex-officio  Superintend 
ent,  whom  I  was  to  meet  farther  on. 

Military  orders  are  to  be  obeyed,  and  four 
teen  hundred  miles  Of  railroad  brought  me  to 
Sioux  City,  the  "jumping  off  place"  of  that 
day. 

From  here  the  stage  must  be  used,  or  the 
steamboat  of  the  Missouri,  made  to  run  on 
water  or  moist  mud,  as  the  case  might  be.  The 
stage  was  daily,  the  steamboat  not  anything  as 
to  time,  but  casting  loose  her  lines  for  a  trip 
up  the  river  whenever  a  sufficient  load  was  on 
board  to  make  it  pay,  and  taking  such  passen- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  15 

gers  as  might  apply  and  were  content  to  take 
the  chances  of  departure.  The  Sioux  City  of  '69 
could  not  boast  of  palatial  hotels,  but  was  sup 
plied  with  a  few  places  which  might  come  under 
the  head  of  u  accommodation  for  man  and 
beast,"  the  St.  Elmo  and  Northwestern  leading 
in  dividing  the  patronage  of  the  traveling  pub 
lic.  Stopping  at  either  at  this  time  was  sug 
gestive  of  the  thought  that  it  would  have  been 
far  better  to  have  gone  to  the  other. 

General  Harney,  with  his  assistants,  was 
quartered  at  the  Northwestern.  Thinking  I 
might  gain  some  valuable  hints  from  him  as  to 
my  new  duties,  I  sought  an  interview,  and 
found  him  fond  of  praising  the  Indians'  traits  of 
character,  nevertheless  heartily  glad  to  escape 
from  their  immediate  presence  and  companion 
ship,  at  the  same  time  giving  a  hint  of  his 
friendly  interest  in  these  people  by  saying, 
"  They  are  children,  sir,  and  you  must  deal 
with  them  as  such."  When  asked  if  he  in 
tended  to  visit  the  Indians  on  the  Missouri 
again,  he  was  most  eloquent  and  decided  in  his 
peculiar  way  in  replying  that  he  did  not;  as  he 
had  already  made  too  many  promises  he  could 
not  fulfill,  and  did  not  propose  to  continue  in  that 
line  any  longer.  The  Indians  might  expect  to 
see  him  with  a  quantity  of  horses,  cows  and 
chickens  for  them,  but  they  would  not,  and 
did  not. 


16  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

John  H.  Charles,  genial,  good  natured  and 
accommodating,  kept  the  principal  store  that 
supplied  the  wants  of  dwellers  on  the  banks  of 
the  upper  Missouri.  He  had  everything  that 
officer,  soldier,  steamboatman  and  ranchman 
needed,  or,  if  not  in  store,  knew  precisely  where 
to  get  it,  how  to  send  it,  and  when  and  how  it 
could  be  paid  for.  He  gathered  in  all  the  gossip 
from  up-river  forts  and  agencies,  and  delighted 
in  telling  the  newly  arrived  the  latest  bon  mots, 
and  recounting  the  changes  that  had  taken 
place. 

Coming  from  the  East,  Sioux  City  presented 
at  this  time  but  few  attractions  other  than  the 
evidence  of  its  growing  importance  as  the  out 
let  of  the  upper  Missouri  country,  and  the  ter 
minal  point  of  a  railroad  connecting  with  East 
ern  civilization. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  17 


CHAPTER  II. 

TORTUOUS    COURSE     OF     MISSOURI DISTANCE     BY    RIVER   AND 

BY    STAGE DISCOMFORTS    OF    TRAVEL ARRIVAL    IN    YANK- 
TON. 

THE  tortuous  course  of  the  Missouri  is 
illustrated  by  the  difference  in  distance 
between  Sioux  City  and  Yankton  by  river  and 
by  stage  road.  By  the  former  it  is  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles,  and  by  the  latter  sixty- 
five. 

The  distance  by  river  is  only  estimated,  for 
so  changing  is  the  channel  of  this  erratic  stream 
that  a  steamboat  never  finds  it  the  same  in  two 
consecutive  trips,  and  even  during  a  single  trip 
she  crosses  and  re-crosses  the  river  so  many 
times,  that  her  course  can  only  be  compared  to 
that  of  the  man  who  went  home  late  from  his 
club,  and  complained  that  it  was  not  the  length 
of  the  way,  but  the  width  of  it,  that  troubled 
him. 

The  channel,  with  all  its  irregularities,  pre 
serves  one  general  law,  and  that  is  to  go  from 
bank  to  bank  at  as  acute  an  angle  as  possible, 


18  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

so  a  steamboat  is  constantly  zig-zaging  between 
the  two  shores,  with  such  variations  of  angles 
as  the  ever-changing  sand  bars  make  necessary. 
These  sand  bars  are  innumerable  in  low  water 
(which  usually  prevails),  and  cause  the  new 
comer  to  exclaim,  u  How  much  dry  land  there 
is  in  this  water  !" 

Deciding,  then,  upon  the  stage  as  the  most 
reliable  mode  of  reaching  Yankton,  the  capital 
city  of  Dakota,  I  am,  by  previous  arrangement 
with  mine  host,  awakened  at  the  witching  hour 
of  three  A.  M. ,  and  with  many  yawnings  and 
stretchings,  prepare  for  the  day' s  work. 

The  u  mud  wagon/'  complimented  by  the 
name  of  stage,  makes  its  appearance  in  due 
time,  and  it  having  called  around  for  stray  pas 
sengers  before  arriving  at  the  St.  Elmo,  I  find  I 
must  consider  myself  fortunate  to  obtain  a  seat 
inside  or  out.  It  actually  accommodates  four 
inside  and  one  outside  with  the  driver,  but  any 
where  from  six  to  a  dozen  passengers  usually 
present  themselves  to  be  wedged  into  seats,  and 
occupy  the  limited  space  as  best  they  may. 

The  stage  agent  leaves  us  to  jam  and  crowd 
each  other  to  our  hearts'  content,  while  the 
driver  impassively  nods  in  his  seat,  until  the 
magic  words,  u  All  right !"  pronounced  by  the 
former,  set  us  in  motion.  We  wriggle  and 
twist,  draw  in  one  foot  and  shove  out  another, 
but  finally,  with  elbows  pinioned  and  sullen 


AMONG   THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  19 

looks,  settle  down  to  the  morning  ride  in 
silence  ;  for  fifteen  good  English  miles  are  to  be 
gone  over  before  breakfast,  and  who  wants  to 
talk  before  coffee?  Thus  solidly  packed,  we 
sway  from  side  to  side,  or  jounce  into  a  slough 
and  out  in  unison  with  our  vehicle,  the  head 
and  neck  moving  upon  the  shoulders  being  the 
only  indication  of  life. 

A  stop.  The  driver  exclaims,  "Mail!"  and 
at  the  same  moment  a  leathern  bag  strikes  the 
ground  with  a  thud,  near  the  door  by  our  side. 
An  easy-going-  individual,  emerging  from  a 
typical  Western  ranch,  takes  it  and  disappears. 
The  driver  is  down  from  his  seat,  his  horses  are 
watered,  we  inside  twist  our  necks  a  little  more 
than  usual,  until  some  one  explains,  "Mail 
station ;  half  way  to  breakfast,"  and  then 
solemn  silence  again.  The  mail  bag  is  returned, 
the  driver  once  more  in  his  seat,  and  we  are  off. 
After  napping  and  nodding  a  weary  time  we 
make  another  stop,  and  here  we  have  a  change 
of  horses,  and,  at  last;  breakfast.  The  more 
recent  arrivals  from  the  East  look  around  for 
washing  facilities,  and  find  a  tin  basin  sitting 
on  a  bench  outside  the  house,  water  to  be 
dipped  from  a  barrel  close  at  hand,  and  a  gen 
eral  towel  which  is  continually  revolved  in  the 
search  for  a  dry  spot,  or  one  which  has  not 
done  too  much  previous  duty.  The  towel  has 
a  horsey  smell,  showing  that  the  stablemen  do 


20  AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

not  have  all  the  modern  improvements  in  their 
retiring  rooms. 

Breakfast  is  announced,  and, without  the  least 
sign  of  ceremony,  each  particular  passenger 
hurries  to  the  tables  as  fast  as  his  legs  can 
carry  him,  and  seating  himself,  eagerly  scans 
the  different  dishes.  Some  of  all  within  reach 
is  soon  transferred  to  his  plate  and  dispatched 
with  no  show  of  dalliance.  Muddy  coffee,  fried 
pork  and  potatoes,  and  bread  and  butter  form 
the  repast,  eagerly  relished  and  cheerfully  paid 
for  at  such  price  as  would  secure  in  the  East  a 
sumptuous  meal. 

Fresh  horses  are  attached,  the  passengers  re 
packed,  each  slyly  striving  to  secure  more 
room  to  the  detriment  of  his  neighbor,  and  we 
are  once  more  on  the  road. 

The  stage  road  leads  over  the  fiat,  monoto 
nous  bottom  land  of  the  Missouri,  which 
usually  extends  back  some  four  or  five  miles, 
but  is  occasionally  narrowed  down  by  the  en 
croaching  bluffs,  which,  at  Elk  Point,  Vermil- 
lion  and  Yankton,  reach  to  the  water' s  edge. 

The  passengers  occasionally  awake  to  some 
little  conversation,  always  commonplace,  but 
our  chief  interest  centers  in  the  frequent 
sloughs,  the  safe  crossing  of  which  is  always 
more  or  less  a  matter  of  speculation.  As  we 
approach  one  the  driver  tightens  his  reins, 
flourishes  his  whip,  and  then  in  we  go.  The 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  21 

wheels  sink  lower  and  lower  to  the  hubs  ;  our 
motion  is  gradually  retarded,  and  there  is  a 
general  rising  of  interest  among  the  passengers  ; 
we  nearly  stop,  then  floundering,  and  splash 
ing,  slowly  move  on,  the  rims  of  the  wheels 
carrying  great  clods  of  mud  and  grass.  Finally 
we  reach  more  solid  ground,  and  the  gentle  trot 
of  our  horses  speeds  us  on  our  way.  We  pass 
Elk  Point,  Vermillion  and  Thompson' s,  "the 
Boss  Ranch  ;"  we  have  changes  of  mail  and 
changes  of  horses;  and  finally,  as  the  sun  sends 
its  last  slanting  rays  over  the  broad  prairie, 
distant  bluffs  and  strips  of  woodland,  it  is  an 
nounced  that  we  are  approaching  Yankton. 

A  sharp  turn  or  two  in  the  road,  indicative 
of  future  streets;  a  faster  trot  of  our  horses;  a 
sudden  stop  by  a  plank  platform  in  front  of  a 
house,  and  we  are  at  the  Merchants'  Hotel  of 
'69.  A  number  of  persons  emerge  from  the 
hotel,  nearly  filling  the  walk,  and  scan  with  in 
terest  each  passenger  as  we  awkwardly  leave 
the  stage  and  set  foot  in  the  Capital  of  Dakota. 

Though  farther  from  the  base  of  supplies, 
this  hotel  was  an  improvement  on  any  in  Sioux 
City  ;  a  fair  table  and  comfortable  rooms  were 
welcomed  after  a  hard  day's  ride. 


22  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  III. 

YANKTON,  D.T.— INTERVIEW   WITH    GOVERNOR    AND  EX-OFFICIO 

SUPERINTENDENT    OF     INDIAN     AFFAIRS DIFFICULTIES      IN 

NAVIGATING    THE    MISSOURI  RIVER  —  AN    IMPATIENT  SAVAGE. 

YANKTON,  with  perhaps  eight  hundred 
or  a  thousand  souls,  had  within  it  the 
spirit  and  enterprise  which  have  built  towns 
and  cities  here  and  there,  across  our  continent, 
and  it  needed  no  prophetic  vision  to  forecast 
the  time  when  it  would  be  a  point  of  import 
ance  as  the  outlet  of  trade  from  the  upper  coun 
try.  It  would  be  the  natural  terminus  of  a  rail 
road,  and  the  headquarters  of  steamboats  used 
in  the  mountain  trade  of  Montana,  taking  the 
place  that  Leaven  worth,  Council  Bluffs  and 
Sioux  City  had  each  held  in  its  turn. 

Here  I  was  to  pay  an  official  visit  to  the  Gov 
ernor  and  ex-officio  Superintendent  of  Indian 
Affairs,  and  accordingly  I  lost  no  time  in  seek 
ing  the  small  dwelling  on  the  river  bank,  which 
I  was  informed  was  his  headquarters.  The 
genius  of  our  institutions  was  illustrated  in  the 
unostentatious  surroundings  of  a  territorial 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  23 

Governor,  representing,  as  he  did,  the  power 
and  dignity  of  the  general  Government,  but  far 
from  the  artificial  requirements  of  metropolitan 
taste.  The  office  which  I  now  entered  was  a 
plain,  uncarpeted  room,  furnished  with  a  table, 
a  desk,  a  revolving  chair  (gubernatorial),  one 
or  two  common  chairs  and  a  huge  spittoon  cen 
trally  situated.  On  introducing  myself  I  was 
cordially  greeted  by  the  Governor,  whom  I 
found  to  be  a  genial  and  kindly  disposed 
official. 

Naturally,  we  at  once  reverted  to  the  Indians 
on  the  reservation  at  Whetstone  Creek,  and 
I  expected  to  hear  some  wise  suggestions  with 
regard  to  their  management,  and  interesting 
accounts  of  them  generally.  Much  to  my  sur 
prise,  the  Governor  and  ex-officio  Superintend 
ent  of  Indian  affairs  acknowledged  but  a  slight 
acquaintance  with  them,  and  knew  nothing 
personally,  as  he  had  never  been  at  the  Agency. 
He  had  had  experience  with  the  Omahas  in 
Nebraska,  but  the  wild  Sioux  of  his  Territory 
were  a  very  different  people. 

I  noticed  at  this  time  one  fact  which  was 
afterward  confirmed,  that  those  who  had  been 
some  time  associated  with  Indians  assumed  to 
know  little  of  their  character,  and  usually  had 
no  plans  for  their  management,  or  fixed  views 
as  to  how  our  Government  should  treat  them. 
At  some  time  these  persons  might  have  luul 


24  AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

plans  and  policies,  but  actual  contact  had 
shaken  their  faith  in  making  Indians  first-class 
citizens  and  Christians  during  the  time  of  one 
administration  or  even  of  one  life.  But  a  newly- 
appointed  attache  of  the  Indian  Bureau,  born 
and  raised  in  the  New  England  States,  perhaps, 
will  unhesitatingly  mark  out  a  course  to  pursue, 
which  will  transform  a  savage  into  an  enlight 
ened  citizen,  surely  within  the  period  of  his 
administration.  Thus  "  distance  lends  enchant 
ment  to  the  view." 

In  the  midst  of  our  interesting  conversation 
a  steamboat  whistle  was  heard.  In  an  instant 
the  Governor  seized  his  hat  and  was  hastening 
toward  the  door.  I  asked  what  was  the  matter, 
expecting  to  hear  that  his  office  was  in  flames, 
or  some  like  accident. 

"Didn't  you  hear  that  whistle?"  he  ex 
claimed.  u  There's  a  steamboat  coming  ;  come 
on."  I  joined  him,  and  we  hurried  toward  the 
river,  where  a  steamboat  could  be  seen  in  the 
distance,  making  slow  headway  against  the 
current,  though  under  full  head  of  steam,  as 
shown  by  the  black  smoke  rolling  out  of  her 
chimneys,  and  the  white  puffs  of  steam  issuing 
from  her  escape  pipes. 

The  whole  town  seemed  to  be  approaching 
the  landing,  and  I  was  informed  that  they 
always  turned  out  when  a  boat  arrived  from 
below ;  some  having  actual  business,  some 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  25 

moved  by  curiosity,  and  all  impelled  by  the 
desire  for  some  excitement  which  this  event 
seemed  to  supply. 

The  "  Evening  Star,"  as  the  steamer  proved 
to  be,  was  en-route  for  Fort  Sully,  and  having 
had  sufficient  experience  with  the  stage,  I  con 
cluded  to  try  the  river.  The  "Evening  Star," 
to  be  sure,  had  been  a  week  on  the  way  from 
Sioux  City,  and  no  one  knew  how  long  it  would 
take  her  to  reach  Whetstone  Creek  reserva 
tion  ;  but  the  saving  of  time  ceases  to  be  an 
object  as  you  recede  from  civilization.  The 
tri- weekly  stage  made  the  distance  from  Yank- 
ton  to  Fort  Randall,  about  seventy -five  miles, 
within  fifteen  hours,  but  the  steamboat  prom 
ised  more  comfort,  if  less  speed. 

I  found  the  Missouri  River  steamboat  was 
not  commodious,  nor  luxuriously  furnished  in 
any  way  for  the  accommodation  of  passengers. 
The  small  stateroom  s  had  scarcely  enough  in 
them  for  comfort ;  while  the  table  was  supplied 
with  the  coarsest  food  ;  fried  liver  and  onions, 
fried  bacon,  thick  coffee  and  hot,  sodden  bis 
cuits  formed  the  principal  articles  of  diet.  Milk 
and  butter  were  luxuries  by  no  means  common. 

A  s  we  progressed  up  the  river,  the  captain, 
pilot,  mate  and  all  hands  seemed  to  direct  their 
entire  attention  towards  making  the  "  Evening 
Star"  push  her  way  over  sand  bars,  and  to 
finding  that  part  of  the  river  which  contained 


26  AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

the  greatest  depth  of  water.  This  was  often  a 
hidden  mystery,  requiring  for  its  solution  hours 
of  diligent  search  in  a  small  boat  manned  with 
a  crew  and  pilot,  who,  with  sounding  pole  in 
hand,  fathomed  all  parts  of  the  river,  while  the 
steamboat  "lay  to"  with  her  nose  gently 
pushed  against  the  bank,  and  her  wheels  kept 
in  just  sufficient  motion  to  hold  her  against  the 
strong  current.  The  pilot,  having  fully  recon- 
noitered,  would  return  to  his  elevated  house 
and  jingle  a  bell.  A  louder  noise  of  puffing 
steam  would  be  heard,  and  an  attempt  at  fur 
ther  progress  made.  Often  this  selected  chan 
nel  would  prove  a  failure  ;  the  boat  would 
gradually  " slow  up"  as  she  came  in  contact 
with  the  sandy  bottom,  and  then  come  to  a  dead 
stop.  But  the  master  of  the  craft  was  equal  to 
the  occasion,  and  would  issue  the  startling 
order,  "Plant  a  dead  man  !" 

At  this  a  boat  would  be  manned  and  a  log 
carried  on  shore  some  distance  above  the  point 
where  the  steamboat  was  stuck.  Here  a  line 
from  the  steamboat  was  made  fast  to  the  log, 
which  was  firmly  buried  in  a  deep  hole  dug  for 
the  purpose.  The  end  of  the  line  on  board  was 
made  fast  to  the  capstan,  a  full  head  of  steam 
applied  to  the  latter,  and  drawing  heavily  upon 
the  line,  which  was  wound  up  on  the  rapidly 
revolving  capstan,  we  would  be  gradually 
dragged  over  the  sand  bar. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  27 

This  failing,  recourse  was  had  to  the  huge 
wooden  spars,  shod  with  iron  points,  which 
were  suspended  by  lines  and  pulleys  on  either 
side  of  the  forward  deck.  When  needed,  their 
lower  ends  were  thrown  overboard,  the  lines 
from  their  upper  ends  fastened  by  a  system  of 
blocks  and  pulleys  to  the  donkey  engine,  and 
the  latter  put  in  motion  by  an  order  to  "  Go 
ahead  on  the  nigger."  In  this  way  the  steam 
boat  was  on  legs  for  the  time  being. 

With  these  auxilaries,  the  k'deadman"  and 
capstan,  the  spars  and  donkey  engine,  the  craft 
was  generally  "  grasshoppered  "  over  the  sand 
bars,  but  when  these  failed  downright  disap- 
j)ointment  brooded  over  the  navigator's  face, 
and  u double  tripping"  was  the  last  resort. 
This  was  the  simple  process  of  leaving  half  the 
freight  on  shore  ;  after  which  the  lightened 
steamboat  could  pass  over  the  shallow  water  to 
a  point  above.  Here  the  remainder  of  the 
freight  must  be  unloaded,  while  she  went 
back  for  the  first  half ;  and  then  on  her  re 
turn,  of  course,  all  must  be  once  more  taken 
on  board.  A  slow  and  laborious  process,  which 
it  was  no  wonder  was  the  dread  of  the  river 
men. 

The  passengers  all  seemed  to  take  the  live 
liest  interest  in  the  boat'js  progress,  and  many 
were  the  comments  on  the  probability  of  arriv 
ing  at  some  woodyard  at  a  certain  time  ;  or  the 


^8  AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

passing  of  some  bad  place  in  the  river,  with 
which  they  had  had  previous  experience. 

And  so  amid  many  doubts  and  uncertainties 
we  held  to  our  course,  passing  Bon  Homme, 
Santee  Sioux  agency,  Ponca  agency,  and  Yank- 
ton  Sioux  agency,  and  finally  arriving  at  Fort 
Randall,  where  we  landed  some  freight  and 
were  visited  by  its  occupants,  officers  and  men 
of  the  22nd  Infantry. 

Here  I  met  Captain  A.  E.  Woodson,  who  had 
preceded  me  at  the  Agency,  and  who  was  act 
ing  Commissary  for  issuing  supplies  there.  He 
gave  me  my  first  insight  into  the  condition  of 
affairs  among  the  Indians  ;  the  want  of  suitable 
shelter  for  supplies  on  hand  and  to  arrive  ;  the 
number  of  the  Indians  and  their  various  wants  ; 
and  their  anxiety  to  see  their  new  agent,  who 
they  supposed  was  coming  with  all  manner  of 
good  things  to  make  their  "hearts  glad."  He 
also  exhibited  a  couple  of  leaden  bullets,  picked 
up  in  his  sleeping  room.  They  had  been  fired 
through  the  door  from  a  rifle  in  the  hands  of 
some  impatient  savage,  who  thus  showed  his 
disgust  at  the  management  of  affairs  in  general, 
and  the  manager  in  particular. 

Not  an  over-bright  picture  of  a  quiet  and 
peaceful  life,  while  teaching  the  aborigines  the 
beneficence  of  the  Government. 


AMONG   THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  29 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ARKIVAL  AT  WHETSTONE  CREEK  RESERVATION — ITS  LOCATION 
AND  DESCRIPTION  —EXTENT  OF  THE  SIOUX  RESERVATION 
UNDEK  TREATY  OF  18f)8 — DIFFERENT  BANDS — NUMBER 
OF  SIOUX  SUPPLIED  AT  WHETSTONE. 

STILL  following  the  fortunes  of  the  u  Even 
ing  Star,''  I  once  more  embarked,  and 
next  day,  toward  evening,  the  low,  uncouth 
buildings  of  Whetstone  Creek  reservation  ap 
peared.  Whites  and  Indians  could  be  seen 
making  their  way  leisurely  toward  the  land 
ing,  moved  by  the  curiosity  which  seems  to 
pervade  all  dwellers  on  the  Missouri  River, 
to  see  a  steamboat  of  any  size  or  description, 
and  more  especially  one  coming  from  below. 

This  spot  was  utterly  devoid  of  the  wild 
picturesqueness  supposed  to  be  incident  to  its 
location  and  inhabitants.  The  "first  bench," 
or  level  ground  extending  immediately  back 
from  the  river,  was  some  eighty  rods  wide, 
and  covered  in  most  places  with  a  thick 
growth  of  willows  interlaced  with  wild  vines. 
A  sharp  rise  of  six  or  eight  feet  led  to  the 


30  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

"second,  bench,"  another  level  stretch  of 
ground  which  extended  back  to  the  bluffs, 
covered  near  the  river  with  an  undergrowth 
of  oak,  but  soon  running  into  prairie.  This 
rich  bottom*  land  followed  the  course  of  the 
river  for  some  four  miles,  but  was  cut  off 
above  and  below  by  the  bluffs,  which  at  these 
points  circled  into  the  very  bank.  Whetstone 
Creek,  fringed  with  a  very  small  growth  of 
timber,  broke  through  the  range  of  bluffs  from 
the  west  and  joined  the  Missouri,  while  farther 
south  Scalp  Creek  did  the  same.  These  creeks 
contained  running  water  only  after  severe  rains, 
soon  subsiding,  and  having  nothing  in  their 
dry  beds  save  u  water  holes  "  at  long  distances. 
An  island  in  the  river,  a  short  distance  from  the 
agency,  furnished  cottonwood  logs  for  fuel  and 
for  building.  The  pocket  of  land  thus  enclosed 
by  the  river  and  the  bluffs,  contained  about  two 
thousand  acres  of  rich  alluvial  soil,  and,  in 
addition  to  this,  Whetstone  Creek  bottom 
lands,  suitable  for  cultivation,  extended  some 
distance  farther  back. 

Near  the  edge  of  the  second  bench  a  row  of 
rough  log  buildings  was  ranged,  the  carpen 
ter's  shop,  blacksmith's  shop,  two  medium- 
sized  storehouses,  an  office  and  council  room  in 
one,  a  dispensary,  the  barn  and  stables,  and,  to 
the  left  and  towards  the  river,  the  saw  mill ; 
these  comprising  all  the  agency  buildings. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA.  31 

Immediately  back  some  irregularly  located  log 
huts  occupied  the  ground,  exciting  a  faint  sus 
picion  that  there  was  some  intention  of  a  street. 
The  rest  of  the  ground  back  to  the  bluffs  was 
occupied  by  Indian  Tepees.  The  trader's  store, 
holding  a  central  position,  was  by  far  the  most 
pretentious  building  of  all. 

This  spot  of  ground  with  its  buildings  was 
known  in  Dakota  as  the  Whetstone  Agency, 
and  was  regarded  by  most  persons  as  the 
reservation  of  the  Indians  located  there.  Even 
in  the  Interior  Department  it  seemed  to  be 
understood  that  the  Indians  here  were  confined 
within  narrow  and  well-defined  bounds.  My 
instructions  stated  that  I  was  to  be  agent  for 
Indians  in  the  Sioux  District,  located  upon  a 
reservation,  etc.  With  the  Poncas  or  the  San- 
tee  Sioux,  whose  reservations  contained  only  a 
few  thousand  acres  each,  agency  and  reserva 
tion  were  almost  synonymous  terms.  With 
the  Indians  at  Whetstone  it  was  entirely  differ 
ent.  My  first  information  after  coming  in  con 
tact  with  them,  was  that  in  place  of  being  pent 
up  within  narrow  bounds,  they  claimed,  and 
rightfully,  all  the  land  from  the  northern 
boundary  of  Nebraska  to  the  forty-sixth  par 
allel  of  latitude,  and  from  the  right  bank  of  the 
Missouri  to  the  one  hundredth  and  fourth  de 
gree  of  longitude  west ;  a  vast  area  of  land, 
containing  at  a  low  estimate  forty-six  thousand 


32  AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

square  miles,  or  nearly  thirty  millions  of  acres, 
over  which  they  were  free  to  roam  at  will. 

Under  the  treaty  of  1868  they  held  this 
reservation  in  common  with  those  other  bands 
of  the  Sioux  nation  who  had  had  their  homes 
west  of  the  Missouri.  The  estimated  number 
of  the  nations  was  at  this  time  twenty-eight 
thousand,  which  would  be  about  one  person  to 
every  thousand  acres,  or  each  man,  woman  and 
child  could  occupy  an  area  of  nearly  two  square 
miles.  A  division  by  families  would  give  much 
more  elbow  room.  A  large  estimate  would 
make  only  h've  thousand  six  hundred  homes 
required,  and  thus  give  an  allowance  of  over 
five  thousand  acres  to  each  family.  Of  what 
use  would  such  vast  area  be  in  teaching 
Nomads  the  first  principles  of  civilization,  and 
helping  them  to  form  permanent  homes?  As 
a  hunting  park  it  was  equally  a  failure.  The 
buffalo  ranged  south,  west  and  north  of  this 
tract  of  country  ;  and  the  Indians  could  not 
subsist  upon  the  small  game,  such  as  antelope, 
deer  and  mountain  sheep,  which  were  found 
in  moderation.  This  was  apparently  under 
stood  by  the  framers  of  the  treaty,  as  it  was 
expressly  provided  therein,  that  whenever  the 
buffalo  could  be  found  on  any  lands  north  of 
the  North  Platte  and  on  the  Republican  Fork 
of  the  Smokey  Hill  River,  the  Indians  should 
be  allowed  to  hunt  them. 


AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  33 

Tlie  possession  of  this  princely  domain  was 
the  cause  of  much  misunderstanding  and  dis 
content.  It  was  given  to  these  uncivilized 
Indians  in  solemn  treaty,  stipulating  that  no 
person  except  officers  and  agents  of  the  Gov 
ernment  should  ever  be  permitted  to  pass 
over,  settle  upon  or  reside  in  the  territory  de 
scribed.  But  already  in  one  short  year  was 
proved  the  utter  impossibility  of  keeping  in 
good  faith,  and  protecting  from  encroachment, 
the  terms  of  this  immense  contract.  Another 
difficulty  was  the  inability  to  make  the  Indians 
understand  anything  of  imaginary  geographical 
lines.  They  knew  nothing  of  such  nice  dis 
tinctions,  but  had  a  general  idea  that  their  pos 
sessions  extended  west  as  the  crow  flies,  to  the 
Wind  River  mountains  of  Wyoming,  and 
northwest  through  the  eastern  part  of  Montana 
to  the  British  possessions. 

The  Brulo  and  Ogallala  Sioux  at  the  agency 
numbered  at  this  time  about  fifteen  hundred 
souls.  Most  of  them,  having  separated  them 
selves  from  their  former  chiefs,  were  known  as 
the  "  loafer  band,"  and  were  living  in  huts  and 
adjacent  tepees  under  the  chieftainship  of  Big- 
mouth,  the  most  loquacious  and  persistent 
beggar  that  ever  walked.  A  short  distance 
above  the  agency  was  a  small  collection  of 
tepees  ruled  by  Swift  Bear  ;  below  were  Stand 
ing  Elk,  a  Brulo,  and  his  band,  while  a  mile  or 


34  AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

so  back  from  the  agency,  on  Whetstone  Creek, 
Fire  Thunder,  an  Ogallala,  swayed  by  his  elo 
quence  and  valor  the  inhabitants  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  tepees.  A  few  Cheyennes  were  inter 
married  with  these  different  bands,  and  affili 
ated  with  them.  Mingled  with  all  the  bands 
were  a  number  of  white  men  who  had  married 
with  the  Indians,  and  were  recognized  by  them 
as  entitled  to  share  in  any  grants  or  donations 
of  the  Government.  These  white  men  had  been 
associated  with  the  Sioux  for  a  number  of 
years,  coming  among  them  at  first  as  hunters 
and  trappers  for  fur  companies,  afterward  as 
guides  to  military  and  other  expeditions,  and 
then  as  traders  and  interpreters. 

Spotted  Tail,  a  Brule  Sioux,  who  had  always 
held  himself  aloof  from  the  "loafers"  at  the 
agency,  kept  his  camp  of  from  three  hundred 
and  fifty  to  four  hundred  lodges  at  a  point  as 
remote  as  the  necessity  of  procuring  supplies 
would  permit,  usually  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles 
distant.  I  soon  became  acquainted  with  the 
principal  members  of  these  different  com 
munities. 


AMONG  THE  STOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  35 


CHAPTER  Y. 

INSPECTION    OF     PROPERTY  'FOR    USE     OF    INDIANS — AGRICUL 
TURAL     IMPLEMENTS RATIONS CULTIVATED      LAND,      ITS 

PRODUCTS WANT     OF    INTEREST     BY     INDIANS FIRST    AT 
TEMPT    TO    CULTIVATE    THE    SOIL. 

AMONG  my  first  duties  after  arriving  at  the 
agency  was  the  inspection  of  the  prop 
erty,  in  store  and  in  use,  belonging  to  the  Gov 
ernment  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians. 
This  survey  revealed  very  many  useful  articles, 
such  as  would  be  required  in  the  erection  of 
buildings,  and  the  permanent  establishment  of 
a  community,  such  as  a  growing  Western  vil 
lage.  There  were  material  for  furnishing  black 
smith' s  shop  and  saw  mill,  and  connections  for 
grinding  corn  ;  ordinary  wagons  and  carts,  and 
huge  log  carts  with  immense  wheels.  These 
latter  articles  were  a  little  superfluous,  as  the 
wheels  were  so  far  apart  that  they  would  not 
track  in  any  known  roadway,  and  a  log  corre 
sponding  to  the  size  of  the  truck  could  not  be 
found  in  the  Territory.  Besides  these  were 
great  wagons  known  as  "  prairie  schooners," 


36  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

with  a  carrying  capacity  of  eighty  hundred 
weight  or  more.  A  large  assortment  of  agri 
cultural  implements  clearly  indicated  the  de 
sire  on  the  part  of  the  purchaser  for  the  speedy 
arrival  of  the  red  man  at  a  most  advanced  stage 
of  scientific  farming.  There  were  patent  corn 
planters  and  grain  drills,  reapers  and  horse 
rakes  for  harvesting  the  grain,  threshing 
machines  and  fanning  mills,  cultivators  and 
harrows,  breaking  ploughs  and  cross  ploughs, 
scythes,  pitchforks  and  rakes.  In  fact,  some 
of  everything  contained  in  a  first-class  agricul 
tural  implement  establishment.  A  good  assort 
ment  of  drugs  and  medicines  arrayed  on  shelves 
in  the  dispensary  showed  that  the  healing  art 
had  not  been  neglected.  Two  storehouses  were 
filled  with  substantial  provisions,  consisting  of 
flour,  corn,  bacon,  sugar,  coffee,  salt  and  soap. 
There  were  also  yokes  of  oxen  and  horses  and 
mules.  The  expenditures  had  been  lavish,  if 
not  always  judicious.  A  number  of  acres  had 
been  broken  in  various  parts  of  the  agency 
ground,  and  the  different  plats  surrounded  by 
fences,  all  the  work  of  the  Government  em 
ployes,  as  an  encouraging  start  for  the  Indians. 
Some  of  these  plats  of  ground  were  worked  by 
the  white  men  before  mentioned,  whose  squaw 
wives  attracted  an  endless  number  of  relatives 
around  their  homes,  only  limited  by  the  amount 
of  provisions  on  hand.  The  lord  of  the  forest 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  37 

and  prairie  was  often  seen  watching  the  pro 
cess  of  ploughing  and  cultivating  performed  by 
his  white  relation,  as  he  leaned  against  the 
fence  or  lay  on  the  ground  in  the  shade,  as  un 
concerned  a  looker-on  as  could  be  found ; 
seemingly  with  no  thought  of  ever  being  obliged 
to  engage  in  such  pursuit  himself. 

The  formidable  array  of  agricultural  imple 
ments  seemed  also  to  fail  to  awaken  any  enthu 
siasm  in  the  red  man's  breast ;  never  in  all  my 
subsequent  experience  did  I  see  one  observing 
the  construction  of  the  more  intricately  con 
trived  machines,  nor  standing  behind  a  plough 
(as  who  has  not  seen  a  farmer  at  a  country  fair) 
holding  its  handles  while  turning  it  from  side 
to  side,  with  a  countenance  expressive  of  the 
longing  to  see  the  mellow  soil  roll  away  from 
its  polished  share. 

An  inspection  of  the  agency  farm,  to  be  sure, 
showed  a  sickly  array  of  the  products  of  hus 
bandry.  The  wheat,  after  due  preparation  of 
the  ground,  had  been  sown  early,  and  had 
sprung  up  bountifully  under  the  warm  sun  and 
spring  rains,  but  by  the  middle  of  June  the 
rains  ceased,  the  ground  became  parched  and 
dry,  and  the  wheat  having  attained  a  height  of 
four  or  five  inches,  headed  out  and  completed 
its  growth  in  this  dwarfed  state  ;  the  straw 
being  so  short  that  it  could  not  be  harvested 
with  the  most  approved  machine.  The  corn 


88  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

Held  was  more  promising.  Here  the  Indian's 
interest  was  aroused,  for  green  corn  is  one  of 
his  failings^  and  this  crop  must  succeed.  So 
he  threw  all  his  energy  into  this  branch  of 
farming,  and  sent  his  squaw  forth  to  labor  in 
planting  and  hoeing  and  caring  for  the  same. 
The  corn  furnished  for  planting  was  the  variety 
known  as  Ree,  or  squaw  corn.  It  has  adapted 
itself  to  the  short  and  fitful  season  of  the 
Northwest,  coming  to  perfection  for  roasting 
ears  in  six  weeks,  and  thus  escaping  the  mid 
summer  droughts  and  early  frosts.  But,  alas  ! 
a  portion  of  a  large  army  of  grasshoppers  de 
scended  from  the  skies,  and  in  less  than  half  a 
day  devoured  the  corn,  leaving  the  stalks  as 
bare  as  fishing  rods.  Potatoes  had  also  been 
planted,  but  the  potato  bug  was  on  hand, 
apparently  having  been  waiting  from  time 
immemorial  for  the  appearance  of  his  well- 
loved  vine. 

Nature  seems  to  resent  the  first  attempts  to 
cultivate  the  soil  in  this  far-off  land,  and 
turns  upon  the  hardy  intruder  her  whole  bat 
tery  of  weapons.  Terrible  rain  storms  delug 
ing  the  land,  and  often  mixed  with  hail  of 
sufficient  size  to  destroy  vegetation  and  en 
danger  animal  life  ;  the  waterspout  and  wild 
tornado  ;  the  scourge  of  the  locust,  the  grass 
hopper  and  the  beetle. 

But  if  he  be  patient,  and  continue   to  turn 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  39 

aside  the  water-shed  of  nature  formed  by  the 
close-matted  roots  and  grass  of  the  broad 
prairie,  uncovering  the  rich  black  mold,  he 
will  be  rewarded  by  a  gradual  change  in  cli 
mate  ;  for  the  rain  absorbed  by  the  cultivated 
soil  will  be  given  back  into  the  air,  again  re 
turning  in  dews  and  gentle  showers.  But  this 
is  a  lesson  not  easily  taught  the  Indian,  who 
has  a  childlike  interest  in  the  present  and 
small  care  for  the  future. 


40  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ANNOUNCING     ARRIVAL INDIAN      COUNCIL APPEARANCE       OF 

CHIEFS THE    "  TALK." 

A  CCORDINGf  to  custom,  a  council  of  the 
J\.  principal  chiefs  and  warriors  must  be 
called,  to  announce  my  arrival  in  a  formal 
way.  Word  was  sent  to  the  various  represent 
atives  through  the  interpreter;  and  the  old  med 
icine  man  of  the  village  was  also  employed  to 
visit  the  different  camps,  and,  as  he  journeyed, 
to  announce  in  his  stentorian  voice  the  desire  of 
the  agent  for  a  council.  There  was  no  danger 
of  a  failure  as  to  audience.  Besides  the  incent 
ive  offered  by  the  opportunity  for  forensic  dis 
play,  always  attractive  to  these  people,  there 
was  the  accompanying  feast. 

Preparations  were  made  by  erecting  a  council 
lodge,  and  issuing  extra  rations  of  beef  and 
coffee.  The  latter  were  prepared  by  the  squaws 
and  carried  to  the  lodge,  where  they  were  taken 
in  charge  by  some  of  the  young  aspirants  for 
future  honors. 

A  general  stir  among  the  denizens  of  the 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  41 

agency  marked  an  unusual  degree  of  interest 
in  the  coining  event.  Extra  paint  was  applied, 
and  the  gayest  attire  donned,  together  with  the 
usual  complement  of  weapons,  consisting  of 
bows  and  quivers  and  the  latest  improved  fire 
arms.  Spotted  Tail  having  arrived  from  the 
prairie  with  some  of  his  principal  braves,  all 
assembled  at  the  appointed  place.  The  chiefs 
on  such  occasions  were  exceedingly  punctilious 
as  to  their  seats  in  council,  the  principal  one 
always  taking  the  highest  place,  and  the  others 
following  in  order  of  their  importance,  which 
was  tacitly  recognized  according  to  the  number 
of  their  followers. 

Having  entered  the  lodge,  they  seated  them 
selves  on  the  ground  upon  their  blankets  and 
buffalo  robes,  and  patiently  waited  to  be  served 
with  plates  and  tin  cups.  The  meat  and  coffee, 
which  make  the  feast,  were  then  passed  around 
by  humble  followers  of  the  chiefs.  After  due 
time  the  plates  and  kettles  were  removed,  and 
the  pipe,  filled  and  lighted,  passed  from  one  to 
another  for  a  smoke,  each  taking  a  few  whiffs 
before  parting  with  it.  The  feasting  and  smok 
ing  were  done  in  a  very  deliberate  manner,  the 
chiefs  often  speaking  with  each  other  in  low 
tones,  as  if  exchanging  some  views  on  the  com 
ing  discussion.  This  running  conference  grad 
ually  dropped  into  a  dead  silence,  when  it  was 
understood  the  talk  was  to  commence.  Being 


42  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA. 

called  upon,  I  related  to  them  the  old  story  ; 
that  their  Great  Father  in  Washington  desired 
to  do  all  in  his  power  for  them  ;  that  he  wished 
them  to  remain  at  some  fixed  point,  learn  to 
cultivate  the  soil,  and  have  permanent  homes, 
where  they  could  be  taught  the  ways  of  the 
white  man,  have  churches  and  school  houses, 
and  eventually  become  prosperous  and  happy. 
This  "part  of  my  talk  elicited  many  "hows" 
from  the  audience,  as  visions  of  ease  and  abund 
ance  always  did,  but  I  met  with  less  approval 
when  I  went  on  to  make  them  acquainted  with 
orders  lately  received  from  Washington,  to  the 
effect  that  they  must  remain  on  their  reserva 
tion,  and  should  they  leave  it,  would  do  so  at 
the  peril  of  being  driven  back  by  soldiers.  All 
this  was  duly  interpreted  into  the  Sioux  lan 
guage,  sentence  by  sentence,  by  the  interpreter. 
After  a  suitable  time  the  principal  chief,  Spot 
ted  Tail,  rose  from  his  seat  and  made  the  first 
remarks,  of  course  in  his  native  language. 
Spotted  Tail,  though  never  very  eloquent,  was 
direct  and  forcible,  and  usually  to  the  point. 
He  was  glad  to  see  his  new  agent,  and  wanted 
the  horses,  oxen  and  cows  promised  to  his  peo 
ple  in  the  treaty  ;  he  wanted  some  powder  and 
lead  for  his  camp,  to  use  in  hunting  deer,  ante 
lope,  etc. ;  he  had  had  an  agent  while  on  the 
Platte  River  who  had  given  him  everything  he 
had  asked  for,  and  he  hoped  I  would  prove 


AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  43 

equal  to  him ;  that  his  people  were  poor,  and 
needed  blankets,  clothes,  axes  and  kettles. 

These  remarks  were  received  with  many 
"hows  "  from  Spotted  Tail's  party.  The  other 
chiefs  then  followed  in  a  similar  strain,  and 
with  such  variations  as  their  native  oratory 
could  invent.  I  promised  to  do  all  in  my 
power,  and  the  council  broke  up  with  seeming 
good  will  on  both  sides. 

Many  of  these  untutored  savages  showed 
themselves  models  of  manly  bearing  and  de 
portment.  The  chiefs  were  generally  above  the 
average  height  of  white  men,  erect,  full-chested, 
strong  limbed,  and  with  small  hands  and  feet. 
They  were  natural  orators,  and  always  at  home 
as  they  rose  to  speak  in  council ;  standing  in  a 
finely  poised  attitude,  their  blankets  drawn 
over  one  shoulder,  the  other  left  bare,  giving 
full  play  to  their  graceful  gestures.  They 
dealt  largely  in  metaphor,  drawn  from  their 
associations  with  natural  objects,  and,  when 
speaking  of  the  wants  ol  their  simple  lives  and 
of  past  promises  still  unfulfilled,  were  truly 
eloquent,  and  seldom  failed  to  impress  their 
views  of  right  upon  those  in  council,  whether 
at  their  own  homes,  or,  as  I  subsequently  learnt, 
in  the  presence  of  the  chief  authorities  at 
Washington.  In  this  and  following  councils 
they  invariably  acted  with  great  decorum,  and 
conducted  their  deliberations  with  due  regard 


44  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA. 

for  the  feelings  of  others,  provided  the  subject 
under  consideration  was  one  that  in  any  way 
tended  to  the  advancement  of  their  present  in 
terests.  Some  remote  benefit  did  not  interest 
them.  A  divided  council  was  often  disturbed 
by  its  young  members,  after  the  manner  of 
their  more  cultivated  white  brethren. 

The  older  chiefs,  however,  had  much  leniency 
for  the  young  men.  A  young  brave,  having 
returned  from  a  successful  foray,  and  his  ex 
ploits  having  been  duly  announced  in  camp  by 
the  songs  of  the  women  and  the  devotees  of  the 
scalp  dance,  would  feel  his  new  made  honors, 
and  appearing  in  council  would  be  accorded  a 
place  and  an  opportunity  to  make  his  maiden 
speech.  Although  the  aspirant  often  failed, 
his  hearers  treated  him  with  great  considera 
tion,  and  seldom  intimated  that  he  was  not 
equal  to  the  occasion. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  45 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MANNER    OF    ISSUING    FOOD    TO    THE  INDIANS — COST  OF  SAME. 

AN  all-important  part  of  my  duty,  and  one 
which  had  to  be  entered  upon  at  once, 
was  issuing  food  from  the  store  houses.  The 
Indians  knew  that  it  was  stored  away  for  their 
use,  and,  following  out  their  improvident  habits 
of  eating  to  repletion  when  they  had  abundance, 
regardless  of  how  more  could  be  obtained  when 
the  present  supply  was  exhausted,  did  not  rel- 
lish  being  placed  on  a  regular  allowance.  It 
was  a  constant  source  of  annoyance  to  me,  on 
account  of  the  continual  complaints  that  the 
amount  received  fell  far  short  of  their  actual 
necessities ;  and,  as  there  was  a  well-founded 
belief  that  they  were  receiving  sufficient,  many 
and  long  were  the  interviews  on  the  subject. 

Big  Mouth,  an  Ogallala  chief  and  a  relative 
of  the  renowned  Red  Cloud,  being  the  nominal 
chief  of  the  " loafer"  Indians  at  the  agency, 
was  always  eloquent  upon  the  subject.  He  was 
round  and  plump  as  any  city  alderman,  yet  his 
favorite  theme  was  to  enlarge  upon  the  fact 


46  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

that  lie  was  starving,  and  gradually  fading 
away  from  lack  of  food. 

The  Supply  Department  had  fixed  the  daily 
ration  for  each  person,  irrespective  of  age,  as 
follows : 

One  and  one-half  pounds  of  fresh  beef,  one- 
quarter  of  a  pound  of  corn  or  meal,  one-half  of 
a  pound  of  flour,  four  pounds  of  sugar  to  one 
hundred  persons,  two  pounds  of  coffee  to  one 
hundred  persons,  and  one  pound  of  salt  and 
one  pound  of  soap  when  necessary.  Four 
times  each  month  three-quarters  of  a  pound  of 
bacon  to  each  person  was  issued  in  lieu  of  beef. 

Big  Mouth  did  not  possess  the  authority 
necessary  to  dictate  a  proper  subdivision,  so,  in 
order  to  secure  an  equal  division,  and  to 
provide  for  the  old  and  infirm  and  the  young 
and  helpless  at  the  agency,  a  census  of  families 
was  taken,  and  as  complete  a  record  of  num 
bers  was  kept  as  possible.  Rations  were  issued 
every  five  days.  Before  the  issue,  each  head 
of  a  family  was  required  to  procure  a  ticket 
at  the  agency  office,  upon  which  was  stated  the 
number  of  persons  in  his  family  and  the  gross 
amount  of  each  part  of  the  ration  due  ;  and  on 
its  being -received  and  taken  to  the  store  house, 
the  amount  called  for  could  be  obtained.  An 
ordinary  family  of,  say,  seven  persons,  would 
receive,  each  five  days,  fifty-two  and  one-half 
pounds  of  fresh  beef,  or,  in  lieu  of  beef, 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  47 

twenty-six  and  one-quarter  pounds  of  bacon ; 
seventeen  and  one-half  pounds  of  Hour  ;  eight 
and  three-quarters  pounds  of  meal  or  corn  ; 
seven  pounds  of  sugar,  and  three  and  one-half 
pounds  of  coifee,  etc.  As  some  members  of 
such  a  family  were  usually  young  children,  it 
will  be  seen  that  this  allowance  gave  a  very 
fair  play  to  the  gastronomic  abilities  of  the 
adults.  The  women  invariably  attended  to 
procuring  the  supplies  and  conveying  them  to 
the  tepees,  the  head  of  the  family  making  his 
appearance  only  when  he  thought  the  amount 
received  was  not  equal  to  the  number  of  per 
sons  to  be  fed  in  his  lodge.  This  was  the 
order  of  proceeding  with  Big  Mouth's  band. 

Swift  Bear,  having  his  people  separated  from 
the  others,  and  having  full  authority  over  them, 
was  allowed  to  have  the  gross  amount  of  his 
rations  each  five  days,  and  subdivided  the  same 
in  his  camp.  Fire  Thunder  was  granted  the 
same  privilege  for  the  same  reason.  These  two 
sub-chiefs  were  continually  drawing  away  from 
the  authority  of  Big  Mouth  such  as  became 
dissatisfied  with  his  influence  at  the  agency. 
Obtaining  their  supplies  separately  gave  them 
great  advantage  over  him,  as  they  were  on  this 
account  able  to  give  grand  feasts.  Thus  I  was 
enabled  to  suppress  the  doughty  warrior  and 
chief,  and  curb  his  arrogance. 

Spotted  Tail  and  his  sub-chiefs,  Two  Strike, 


48  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

Black  Bear  and  others,  were  no  less  interested 
in  the  supplies  for  their  camp.  These  rations 
were  not  only  given  to  them,  but  transported 
by  the  Government  for  them  to  their  camp, 
which  was  generally  at  least  fifty  miles  distant. 
This  transportation  was  always  a  matter  of  dis 
cussion.  There  were  from  one  to  two  thousand 
ponies  constantly  in  possession  of  Spotted 
Tail's  people,  which  could  have  been  used  in 
packing  the  rations  to  his  camp.  But  I  never 
succeeded  in  interesting  him  in  the  subject,  and 
was  obliged  to  continue  the  employment  of  a 
I/rain  of  wagons  for  the  purpose. 

Spotted  Tail' s  rations  were  issued  once  in  ten 
days,  and  a  day  or  two  before  the  issue  he 
usually  arrived  with  his  retinue  to  suggest 
changes  in  the  amounts  of  the  different  parts 
of  the  ration.  Neither  he  nor  his  people  could 
understand  why  an  exact  amount  of  each  ar 
ticle  should  be  issued  to  each  person,  regard 
less  of  preferences.  Some  did  not  want  meal 
or  corn,  but  in  their  place  more  beef;  some 
wanted  more  bacon  and  less  beef,  or  more  coffee 
and  sugar  as  equivalent  for  less  flour. 

But  with  the  Supply  Department  a  ration 
meant  the  fixed  quantity  of  each  article,  and 
any  deviation  from  it  would  have  been  a  never- 
ending  source  of  trouble  in  the  settlement  of 
my  accounts,  no  matter  how  much  I  might 
have  saved  by  decreasing  and  increasing  accord- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  49 

ing  to  circumstances,  keeping  at  the  same  time 
within  the  aggregate.  Spotted  Tail  always 
clamored  for  more  beef  cattle  and  bacon,  and 
always  had  plausible  reasons  why  more  should 
be  sent  him,  ably  seconded  in  this  by  his  at 
tendants.  He  showed  true  trafficking  qualities, 
asking  for  an  increase  of  ten  or  fifteen  head  of 
cattle  and  three  or  four  sides  of  bacon,  and 
gradually  coming  down  to  be  quite  satisfied 
with  one  or  two  cattle  and  half  a  side  of  bacon. 
But,  in  spite  of  my  utmost  efforts,  the  issues 
had  a  gradually  increasing  tendency. 

The  "talks,"  having  to  be  interpreted  from 
side  to  side,  consumed  a  great  deal  of  time. 
They  took  place  in  the  agency  office,  and  were 
also  attended  by  the  agency  chiefs,  Big  Mouth, 
Swift  Bear,  Fire  Thunder  and  Standing  Elk, 
who  smoked  and  conversed  with  their  friends 
from  the  prairie.  Generally,  after  Spotted  Tail 
and  his  party  had  departed,  they  would  take  a 
hand  themselves  at  trying  to  get  an  increase  of 
rations  for  their  people,  thus  showing  the  latter 
how  zealous  they  were  in  looking  after  the 
interests  of  their  adherents. 

These  discussions  in  reference  to  rations 
were  usually  good-natured,  but  occasionally 
Big  Mouth  would  insinuate  that  all  the  rations 
in  the  store  house  belonged  to  the  Indians,  or, 
if  there  were  no  other  chief  of  importance  pres 
ent,  he  would  boldly  announce  that  they  all 


50  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

belonged  to  him,  and  that  if  I  were  not  more 
liberal  lie  would  go  and  help  himself.  But  he 
always  changed  his  mind  before  carrying  this 
threat  into  effect,  for  Fire  Thunder  and 
Swift  Bear  would  be  informed  of  his  design, 
'and  would  immediately  set  a  guard  of  their 
own  over  the  store  houses  and  take  occasion  to 
squelch  Big  Mouth  for  his  temerity. 

If  Spotted  Tail  had  this  feeling  about  his 
allowance,  he  never  showed  it,  and,  when  met 
with  the  argument  that  large  additions  to  the 
amount  due  to  his  people  would  perhaps  de 
prive  others  of  their  supply,  would  express 
himself  satisfied  with  such  small  increase  as  I 
could  justly  make. 

Hospitality  was  certainly  one  of  the  cardinal 
virtues  of  these  people,-  and  often  led  to  a 
scarcity  of  supply  at  some  lodge,  where  it  had 
been  too  bountifully  practiced.  But,  then,  the 
inmates  knew  that  others  had  abundance,  and 
they  would  make  the  rounds,  going  from  camp 
to  camp,  and  thus  make  matters  equal. 

There  were  many  arrivals  at  Spotted  Tail' s 
camp  and  at  the  agency  from  Red  Cloud's 
camp,  and  from  other  agencies,  besides  con 
stant  going  to  and  fro  of  Indians  from  the  hos 
tile  camps  at  this  time  in  existence,  all  of  which 
tended  to  disturb  the  food  supply,  and  ren 
dered  it  almost  impossible  to  keep  an  accurate 
census.  There  were  estimated  to  be  in  Spotted 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  51 

Tail's  camp  two  thousand  and  fifty  Indians, 
and  at  the.  agency  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  fifty,  including  half  breeds  and  whites, 
making  a  total  of  three  thousand  seven  hundred 
men,  women  and  children.  This  number  was 
soon  increased  to  four  thousand. 

These  rations  were  issued  to  these  Indiaite  at 
a  cost  to  the  Government  of  about  thirty  thou 
sand  dollars  a  month.  But  this  grand  benefi 
cence  was  never  appreciated  by  them.  They 
seemed  to  take  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  There 
was  no  question  in  their  minds  as  to  the  con 
tinuance  of  the  supply  ;  the  only  thing  that 
troubled  them  was  the  restriction  to  a  daily 
allowance.  They  would  have  preferred  to 
make  one  grand  feast,  and  trust  to  luck  for 
more.  They  had  given  up  the  buffalo,  and 
their  Great  Father *was  bound  to  feed  them, 
because  they  seemed  to  think  he  had  gotten  the 
best  of  the  bargain ;  and,  as  this  was  part  of 
the  policy  now  in  operation  —  that  it  was 
cheaper  to  feed  them  than  to  fight  them — per 
haps  the  Indians  were  right  in  their  conclusions. 


52  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

INDIANS    LOOKING     FOR    ANNUITY    GOODS LARGE     NUMBER    OF 

INDIANS      AND     SMALL     QUANTITY     OF     GOODS A    DISSATIS 
FIED    NOMAD. 

I  WAS  soon  made  aware  that  the  Indians 
had  been  promised  an  abundance  of  blank 
ets  and  Indian  goods,  which  they  had  been 
looking  for  since  the  opening  of  navigation,  and 
now  it  was  midsummer  and  still  they  had  not 
come.  Upon  investigation  it  was  found  that, 
although  Indians  were  Miown  to  be  in  exist 
ence  at  this  point,  none  had  been  purchased  for 
them,  much  less  shipped.  The  Indians  at 
Yankton  agency,  some  forty  miles  down  the 
river,  were  receiving  their  annual  supply,  or 
"  annuities  ;"  so  also  were  their  friends  up  the 
river  at  the  Crow  Creek  agency,  a  hundred 
miles  away,  and  of  course  these  facts  were  well 
known  to  the  Indians  at  Whetstone. 

After  a  strenuous  effort  on  my  part,  and  the 
representation  of  the  fact  that  the  Indians 
would  almost  certainly  abandon  the  agency  if 
they  were  thus  slighted,  the  matter  was  taken 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA.  53 

in  hand  by  the  Governor  and  ex-officio  Superin 
tendent  of  Indian  Affairs.  He  came  up  the 
river  on  the  steamboat  on  which  the  annuities 
for  Crow  Creek  were  loaded,  and,  meeting  a 
downward  bound  boat  some  distance  above 
Whetstone,  transferred  a  portion  of  the  goods 
to  it,  and  they  were  finally  landed  at  the  latter 
point.  This  conciliated  the  Indians,  who  had 
begun  to  feel  that  their  hearts  were  growing 
bad  on  account  of  the  neglect  of  their  Great 
Father  in  Washington,  who  was  the  only 
authority  superior  to  the  agent  whom  they  ever 
mentioned ;  Superintendent,  Commissioners 
and  Secretary  being  totally  ignored  by  them. 
The  arrival  of  the  annuities  was  soon  known 
among  the  different  camps,  and  there  was  at 
once  a  perceptible  increase  in  numbers,  the 
same  kind  of  liberality  being  customary  on 
these  occasions  as  is  shown  when  an  unusual 
supply  of  food  is  on  hand.  They  presented 
their  guests  with  some  portion  of  their  gifts, 
always  expecting  an  equivalent  in  return  should 
the  opportunity  present  itself,  the  polite  thing 
being  to  increase  a  little  the  return  gift. 

The  Sioux  treaty  provided  that  these  people 
should  be  not  only  fed,  but  clothed  for  a  period 
of  three  years  ;  after  which  it  was  supposed  by 
some  exceedingly  sanguine  individuals  (re 
maining  at  a  long  distance  and  necessarily 
drawing  a  long  bow)  that  they  would  become 


54  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

self-supporting  from  the  surplus  products  of 
farming.  Accordingly,  they  had  a  right  to  ex 
pect  these  annuities. 

There  were  at  the  agency,  and  in  Spotted 
Tail' s  camp,  as  has  been  said,  three  thousand 
seven  hundred  Indians,  fully  two-thirds  of 
whom  were  men  and  women  grown  to  such 
estate  as  to  require  blankets.  Of  these  two 
thousand  four  hundred,  there  were  probably 
one  thousand  two  hundred  women  who  would 
want,  in  addition,  new  dresses.  The  goods, 
when  opened,  were  found  to  consist  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty-six  blankets,  five  hundred 
and  forty -eight  yards  of  calico,  and  a  small 
number  of  axes,  hatchets,  kettles  and  butcher 
knives.  The  disparity  between  the  number  of 
Indians  to  be  supplied  and  the  quantity  of 
goods  received  made  an  exceedingly  interesting 
problem  to  be  solved,  each  one  of  these  people 
having  the  natural  desire  to  receive  some  gift. 
They  had  been  promised  to  be  clothed,  and 
according  to  their  ideas  this  meant,  for  the  man 
a  blanket,  some  dark  blue  cloth  for  leggins,  and 
a  narrow  strip  of  red  cloth  to  bind  about  the 
loins,  of  sufficient  length  to  trail  upon  the 
ground  ;  and  for  the  woman  a  short,  loose 
frock,  close-fitting  leggins,  and  a  blanket,  if 
she  could  get  it,  it  being  understood  that  the 
man  must  be  properly  dressed  first. 

The  quantity  of  goods  being  so  small,  I  de- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  55 

cided  to  make  the  distribution  to  tlie  lodges 
without  particular  reference  to  the  number  in 
each.  In  this  manner  each  family  might  re 
ceive  something.  Accordingly,  the  chiefs  were 
called  upon  to  give  the  number  of  tepees  in 
their  respective  camps,  and,  as  is  invariably  the 
case  on  such  occasions,  all,  without  exception, 
magnified  largely  their  numbers  ;  but  as  they 
did  it  in  about  the  same  proportion,  the  result 
was  not  materially  affected. 

These  preliminaries  having  been  completed,  a 
day  was  appointed  for  the  distribution,  and  the 
forms  of  law  complied  with  by  advising  and 
asking  the  commanding  officer  of  the  nearest 
military  post  to  be  present  and  witness  the  dis 
tribution.  At  the  appointed  time  the  chiefs 
and  head  men  presented  themselves  with  their 
followers  in  large  numbers,  with  the  exception 
of  Spotted  Tail,  who  came  with  only  a  few  war 
riors  to  escort  his  share  to  his  camp,  where  he 
would  himself  distribute  it.  The  goods  were 
taken  to  a  large  open  space,  and  placed  in  lots 
corresponding  to  the  number  of  chiefs,  whose 
people,  principally  represented  by  squaws, 
occupied  the  foreground  of  the  circle,  which 
was  large  enough  for  all  to  witness  the  distribu 
tion  and  enjoy  the  full  benefit  of  publicity. 
Each  chief,  entering  the  circle  with  a  few  of  his 
warriors,  made  the  distribution  to  his  own  peo 
ple,  calling  each  representative  of  a  family  by 


56  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

name,  and  giving  him  such  share  as  he  thought 
proper.  At  the  same  time  the  squaws  accom 
panied  the  distribution  with  their  discordant 
songs. 

Although  the  Indians  had  exhibited  a  vast 
amount  of  interest  upon  the  receipt  of  their 
goods,  and  had  advocated  their  respective 
claims  to  large  shares  of  the  same  ;  counted  the 
number  of  packages  on  arrival  and  watched 
over  them  while  in  store,  and  up  to  their  final 
disposal  ;  yet  when  the  distribution  was  once 
made,  small  as  was  the  share  which  fell  to  each 
family,  it  proved  generally  satisfactory,  and 
little  complaint  was  made.  The  chiefs  also  ex 
pressed  themselves  satisfied  when  signing  the 
papers  to  show  they  had  received  the  articles 
sent. 

One  head  of  a  family,  however,  felt  himself 
aggrieved  by  his  chief,  who  had  not  satisfied 
his  cupidity,  and  manifested  his  resentment 
in  rather  a  disagreeable  manner.  At  daybreak 
Captain  Woodson  and  myself,  who  occupied 
adjoining  rooms  in  a  log  building,  were 
aroused  by  the  report  of  a  rifle  and  the  pecu 
liar  whiz  and  pat  of  a  ball,  which  passed 
through  my  door,  knocked  the  mud  and  chink 
ing  out  of  the  partition  wall  between  our 
rooms,  and  finally  rolled  on  the  floor.  It  was 
followed  by  two  others,  which  careered  about 
our  apartments  until  they  spent  themselves, 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  57 

fortunately  not  doing  mucli  damage.  The  fusil 
lade  was  accompanied  by  a  short  speech  in 
Sioux,  but  as  neither  of  us  understood  the  lan 
guage,  that  part  was  lost.  Upon  inquiry  of 
the  interpreter,  however,  it  was  found  to  be 
anything  but  complimentary  to  the  agent. 

After  this  little  outbreak  the  Indian  folded 
his  tepee,  and  silently  stole  away  to  some  of 
the  hostile  camps,  existing  in  Montana,  in  the 
Rosebud  and  Powder  River  valleys. 


58  AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PAWNEE     SCOUTS     DESTROY     SIOUX     CAMP — MOURNING    WOMEN 
AND    MEN PAWNEE    SCALPS,   TRIUMPHAL    PROCESSION. 

DURING  the  month  of  July  an  unusual  ex 
citement  was  created  among  the  Indians 
by  the  arrival  of  a  number  of  their  friends  in 
great  distress,  the  survivors  of  a  small  camp 
that  had  been  attacked  and  destroyed  by  some 
Pawnee  scouts  in  the  employ  of  the  Govern 
ment. 

A  few  Sioux,  with  their  friends  the  Chey- 
ennes,  supposing  that  they  had  the  right  to 
hunt  buffalo  on  the  Republican  River  in  West 
ern  Kansas  (as  they  had  under  their  treaty), 
had  gone  with  their  families  and  lodges  from 
Spotted  Tail's  camp  and  the  agency  to  hunt. 
While  so  engaged,  and  after  having  accumu 
lated  quite  a  quantity  of  buffalo  meat  and 
robes,  they  had  been  surprised  and  attacked  by 
their  hereditary  enemies,  the  Pawnees,  a  num 
ber  of  them  killed,  and  their  lodges  and  the 
products  of  the  chase  destroyed.  Those  who 
escaped  returned  to  the  agency  in  great  desti- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  59 

tution,  and  related  their  misfortunes  to  their 
friends,  whose  violent  sympathy  well  illus 
trated  the  habits  of  these  people  when  in  grief. 
The  squaws  who  were  related  to  those  killed, 
and  their  female  friends,  commenced  the 
mourning  by  singing  or  chanting  their  funeral 
dirges.  Their  powerful  voices  were  raised  in 
piercing  cries,  more  animal  than  human,  and 
they  gave  emphasis  to  their  deep  sorrow  by  a 
peculiar  quavering  of  the  voice  when  dwelling 
upon  the  highest  and  most  prolonged  notes, 
filling  the  air  with  discordant  sounds,  more 
wild  than  the  howl  of  prairie  wolves. 

This  noisy  demonstration  was  usually  com 
menced  by  one  voice  proceeding  from  some 
lodge,  and  this  was  a  sign  that  the  principal 
person  in  it  had  been  sadly  bereaved,  and  that 
his  favorite  squaw  was  ready  to  begin  the 
usual  ceremonies.  Sympathizing  women  at 
once  gathered  around  the  tepee  and  joined  in 
the  funeral  chant.  While  it  continued  the 
squaw  inside  proceeded  to  give  them  the  con 
tents  of  the  lodge,  robes,  blankets,  pots,  ket 
tles,  and  provisions — in  fact  everything  it  con 
tained,  all  the  time  singing  the  praises  of  the 
departed.  The  women  as  they  received  these 
mourning  gifts  swelled  still  louder  their  pierc 
ing  cries,  and  remained  until  everything  was 
disposed  of,  sometimes  the  very  lodge  itself. 

To  a  disinterested  spectator  of  these  scenes, 


60  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

it  looked  as  if  those  engaged  in  them  were  not 
moved  by  pure  sympathy  alone  in  their 
demonstrations  of  grief,  Jbut  were  influenced  by 
a  desire  to  obtain  what  were  to  them  valuable 
gifts. 

The  real  mourner  was  the  man.  He  often 
cut  off  his  long  hair  in  which  he  took  great  pride, 
allowed  his  ponies  and  his  best  blanket  to  be 
given  away,  and  appeared  in  a  buffalo  robe  or 
blanket  of  the  poorest  quality,  old  and  worn. 
His  bright-beaded  leggins  were  discarded,  to 
gether  with  his  finely  embroidered  moccasins. 
Bare-legged,  bare-footed,  without  paint,  his 
face,  arms,  and  legs  often  smeared  with  mud, 
he  fasted,  and  seldom  appeared  in  public,  try 
ing  to  seclude  himself  from  the  world,  and 
could  truly  be  said  to  wear  "  sackcloth  and 
ashes." 

After  the  first  demonstrations  of  grief  were 
over,  the  women  had  spasmodic  periods  of 
mourning,  commencing  their  cries  apparently 
when  some  incident  recalled  the  memory  of 
the  departed.  In  addition  to  their  noisy 
demonstrations,  they  often,  as  a  farther  token 
of  grief,  gashed  their  arms  and  legs,  with 
knives,  making  the  blood  flow  freely. 

The  death  of  an  Indian  at  the  hands  of  an 
enemy  was  sure  to  arouse  a  spirit  of  revenge 
among  the  whole  band  to  which  he  belonged, 
and  measures  were  at  once  inaugurated  to  wipe 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  61 

out  their  sorrow  and  bring  joy  and  gladness  to 
the  camp  by  shedding  the  blood  of  their  ene 
mies.  The  young  men  secluded  themselves  in 
a  medicine  lodge,  presided  over  by  a  medicine 
man  Here  they  clandestinely  met  and  made 
medicine,  preparing  themselves  for  the  war 
path  by  long  dances  and  by  the  incantations  of 
the  medicine  man,  who  fortified  them  for  the 
dangers  of  the  deadly  encounter  by  continually 
demonstrating  to  them  that  they  could  not  be 
killed.  He  would  follow  them  through  camp 
discharging  his  loaded  rifle  at  them,  the  ball,  of 
course,  always  failing  to  hit  the  mark;  or,  com 
ing  upon  one  of  them  suddenly,  he  would  shoot 
at  point  blank  range  of  a  few  feet  with  the 
same  happy  result.  To  them  the  medicine  was 
good,  and  they  thus  became  invulnerable. 

Being  informed  that  the  Indians  under  my 
charge  were  preparing  to  avenge  the  killing  of 
their  friends  by  the  Pawnee  scouts,  I  took 
measures  to  dissuade  them  from  such  a  course 
by  calling  a  council,  and  reminding  the  chiefs 
of  the  order  about  leaving  the  reservation  with 
out  permission  for  hunting  or  any  other  pur 
pose.  They  became  satisfied  that  their  friends 
had  been  injudicious  in  hunting  so  far  away 
from  the  agency,  but  at  the  same  time  could 
not  be  prevailed  upon  by  any  inducement 
oifered  to  interfere  with  the  young  men's 
preparations  for  the  war  path  ;  nor  could  it  be 


62  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

found  out  who  were  really  to  engage  in  the 
undertaking.  The  matter  was  duly  reported 
to  the  Department,  and  for  a  time  the  excite 
ment  subsided. 

It  was  renewed  by  the  arrival  of  some  Indian 
women  who  had  been  captured  at  the  time  of 
the  destruction  of  the  camp,  and  who  were 
returned  to  the  agency  from  the  Department  of 
the  Platte.  The  women  renewed  their  mourn 
ing  cries,  and  among  the  young  men  a  fresh 
desire  for  revenge  broke  forth. 

The  next  intimation  of  the  affair  received  at 
the  agency  was  the  return  of  a  successful  war 
party,  who  had  gone  down  to  the  outskirts  of 
the  Pawnee  reservation,  and,  attacking  a  herd 
ing  party,  had  killed  and  scalped  five  Pawnees, 
returning  to  the  agency  without  loss  to  them 
selves. 

Mourning  was  now  turned  to  joy,  and,  while 
the  young  men  joined  in  the  scalp  dance,  the 
women  trilled  their  piercing  anthems  of  praise, 
extolling  the  bravery  of  their  friends  and 
deriding  the  cowardly  actions  of  their  ene 
mies,  as,  with  the  scalps  dangling  from  the 
ends  of  long  poles,  and  with  wreaths  of 
oak  leaves  adorning  their  heads,  they  marched 
in  procession  through  the  village,  chanting 
as  they  went. 

This  blood  for  blood  appeased  their  resent 
ment,  but  knowing  the  vindictive  spirit  of 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  63 

their  enemies,  they  constantly  anticipated  a 
counter  attack,  and  several  times  the  camp  was 
aroused  by  the  report  that  the  Pawnees  had 
been  seen  on  the  neighboring  bluffs.  The  young 
warriors  would  then  mount  in  hot  haste  and 
charge  in  the  direction  of  the  supposed  enemy. 
On  one  occasion,  when  such  an  alarm  was 
spread  at  evening,  a  skirmish  line  was  formed 
outside  the  village  and  a  brisk  fire  from  their 
rifles  was  kept  up  for  some  time.  When  asked 
why  they  wasted  so  much  ammunition,  they  had 
the  poor  excuse  that  they  wanted  the  Pawnees 
to  know  that  they  were  on  the  watch,  showing 
that  the  Indian's  courage  needs  a  little  tinker 
ing  for  the  occasion  by  the  medicine  man,  par 
ticularly  after  dark. 


64  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  X. 

ISSUE    OF    READY-MADE    CLOTHING TREATMENT    OF    SAME   BY 

THE    INDIANS — EXPENSIVE    EXPERIMENT. 

THE  first  issue  of  annuity  goods  made  to  the 
Indians,  as  has  been  shown,  was  entirely 
insufficient,  the  majority  of  them  not  receiving 
anything  ;  consequently,  I  made  an  effort  to 
procure  more,  stating  the  number  of  blankets, 
yards  of  Indian  cloth,  kettles,  butcher  knives, 
buckskin  needles  and  quantity  of  tobacco, 
which  would  be  required  to  satisfy  in  part  their 
desires.  Without  being  consulted  in  the  mat 
ter,  I  was  informed  that  a  shipment  of  ready- 
made  clothing  had  been  made,  that  it  would 
soon  arrive  at  the  agency,  and  that  it  consisted 
of-  fifteen  hundred  pairs  of  pants,  the  same 
number  of  dress  coats,  seven  hundred  great 
coats,  and  one  hundred  hats. 

The  Indians  had  never  expressed  to  me  any 
desire  to  change  their  style  of  dress ;  all  of 
them,  without  exception,  clung  to  the  fashion 
of  their  forefathers.  The  half  breeds,  indeed, 
had  adopted  in  part  the  habit  of  the  whites, 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  65 

and  the  white  men,  who  had  married  squaws, 
still  retained  their  old  dress ;  but  the  whole 
number  of  these  two  classes  was  little  more 
than  seventy.  Clearly,  the  supply  was  too 
large  for  them,  and,  of  course,  the  Department 
had  decreed  a  grand  reform  for  the  wild,  un 
subdued  Sioux.  His  beaded  blanket,  in  which 
he  took  the  utmost  pride  ;  his  ornamented  leg- 
gins  and  plain  breech  cloth,  were  to  be  dis 
carded,  and  he  was  to  be  arrayed  in  attire  suit 
able  to  his  advance  in  civilization,  and  thus  be 
better  prepared  to  handle  the  plough  and  ma 
nipulate  those  agricultural  implements  when 
the  spring  time  came  around. 

The  ready-made  clothing  arrived.  The  male 
portion  of  the  Indians  took  some  interest  in  the 
affair,  being  influenced  partly  by  curiosity  and 
partly  by  their  unswerving  desire  to  be  the  re 
cipients  of  anything.  The  arrangements  were 
much  the  same  as  when  the  other  presents  were 
distributed,  although,  for  obvious  reasons,  the 
women  were  undemonstrative,  and  did  not  en 
liven  the  occasion  with  their  usual  chants. 

The  number  of  suits  of  clothing  was  so  great 
that  a  decided  change  in  the  appearance  of  the 
males  was  naturally  expected.  But  alas  for 
human  hopes  !  I  was  never  able  to  see  its  real 
ization.  The  clothing  was  originally  intended 
for  the  defenders  of  our  country,  but  had  been 
turned  aside  from  its  purpose  and  colored  a 


66  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

dark  blue,  thus  making  a  more  stylish  citizen 
dress.  An  Indian  in  this  costume  would  be 
far  from  poorly  attired,  although  no  shirts  were 
provided  ;  but  it  did  not  come  up  to  his  ideas, 
and  he  proceeded  at  once  to  improve  upon  it. 
So  the  legs  of  the  pants  were  cut  off,  making 
rather  poor  leggins,  and  the  whole  upper  part 
discarded.  The  overcoats  were  ripped  up  and 
appropriated  by  the  women  for  making  skirts. 
Some  of  the  young  bucks  did  appear  in  the 
dress  coats,  with  the  skirts  and  sleeves  cut  off, 
thus  making  a  sleeveless  jacket,  the  military 
buttons  being  replaced  by  buttons  procured 
from  the  trader  and  fastened  upon  the  impro 
vised  garment  in  all  directions.  The  hats  were 
thrown  away.  Thus  this  plan  of  immediate 
civilization  failed;  and  many  good  men,  who 
believed  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  plod 
through  a  generation  or  two  of  these  people  to 
change  their  mode  of  dress  to  that  of  their  en 
lightened  benefactors,  were  doomed  to  disap 
pointment.  The  experiment  cost  more  than 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  was  for  the 
time  perhaps  a  misdirected  expenditure. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA,  67 


CHAPTER  XI. 

SIOUX    AND  PONCAS  MAKE    PEACE— HOW    INDIANS    MAKE    TREA 
TIES    WITH    EACH    OTHER    AND    BREAK    THEM. 

TT7HETSTONE  agency  was  situated  in  the 
VV  south-eastern  part  of  the  Sioux  reserva 
tion,  and  consequently  was  near  to  the  white 
settlements  in  Northern  Nebraska  and  South 
ern  Dakota;  at  the  same  time  it  was  so  isolated 
as  to  be  under  none  of  the  constraints  of  civil 
ization. 

The  Yankton  Sioux  reservation,  upon  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Missouri,  and  some  forty 
miles  below,  was  limited  in  extent,  and  its 
people  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  white 
men.  These  Indians  were  supposed  to  be  fast 
approaching  the  finishing  touches  of  new-made 
citizens  under  the  best  of  religious  and  secular 
instructors.  Theoretically  they  were  inclined 
to  discard  their  native  dress,  and  to  dispense 
with  the  yearly  sun  dance,  and  other  barbar 
ous  and  sinful  practices. 

Still  further  down  the  river  were  located  the 
Santee  Sioux,  still  more  advanced,  for  they  had 


68  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

actually  abandoned  their  former  dress,  attended 
schools  and  churches,  and  had  among  their 
number  many  young  Indians  who  had  been 
educated  in  the  East.  They  were  indeed 
angels  compared  to  what  they  were  a  few  years 
before,  when,  with  rifle  and  bloody  knife,  they 
had  murdered  men,  women,  and  children .  and 
destroyed  peaceful  homes  along  the  western 
borders  of  Minnesota. 

Both  these  bands  affiliated  with  the  Brules 
and  Ogallalas,  and  spoke  the  same  language 
with  only  a  slight  variation,  using  the  D  sound, 
when  those  west  of  the  Missouri  used  L,  as 
Dakota  and  Lakota.  They  were  fond  of  pay 
ing  friendly  visits  to  theii  country  cousins  at 
Whetstone,  where  they  could  enjoy  a  reunion, 
join  in  the  feast,  and,  throwing  off  their  semi- 
civilized  dress,  with  nearly  naked  bodies 
painted  as  in  the  good  old  days,  indulge  in  the 
music  of  the  sonorous  drum  and  the  wild  de 
lights  of  the  scalp  dance  Far  away  from  dull 
teachers  and  religious  instructors,  they  were 
once  more  noble  red  men. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  of  '<>9,  these 
visits  were  quite  frequent,  and  were  always  the 
occasion  for  a  clamorous  demand  for  additional 
food,  the  Indians  at  the  agency  representing 
that  the  visitors  were  their  friends  whom  it 
made  their  hearts  glad  to  see,  and  that  it  would 
be  a  breach  of  hospitality  not  to  be  thought  of, 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  69 

to  neglect  to  prepare  for  them  a  feast.  These 
requests  were  usually  granted,  for  I  knew  that 
they  would  soon  be  even  with  their  friends. 

The  visits  were  interesting,  showing  as  they 
did,  the  true  inwardness  of  these  Indians,  who 
were  at  heart  just  as  much  savages  as  ever, 
being  only  glossed  over  with  a  thin  coating  of 
civilization,  and  this  coating  being  made  pos 
sible  only  because  they  had  been  beaten  in  the 
field  of  battle  a  few  years  before,  imprisoned, 
and  all  their  leaders  ignominiously  hung. 

The  Poncas,  speaking  a  different  language 
from  the  Sioux,  and  a  remnant  of  a  once  pow 
erful  band  of  Indians,  allied  to  the  Omahas, 
occupied  a  small  reservation  in  the  extreme 
southeast  portion  of  Dakota,  west  of  the 
Missouri.  The  Sioux  treaty  of  1868  wiped  out 
the  reservation,  but  the  Poncas  still  occupied 
it,  being  too  much  reduced  in  numbers  to  be 
thought  worthy  of  much  consideration  by  the 
Government.  The  Sioux  of  Whetstone  paid 
them  more  or  less  attention,  contending  that  the 
Poncas  had  no  right  to  their  reservation,  which 
the  Sioux  were  bound  to  respect,  and  so  occa 
sionally  killed  one  or  more  who  had  ventured 
too  far  from  their  agency  buildings,  or  amused 
themselves  by  stealing  a  few  of  their  ponies  at 
odd  times. 

The  Poncas  knew  of  the  visits  of  the  Yank- 
tons  and  Santees  to  Whetstone,  and  so  con- 


70  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

eluded  that  it  would  be  policy  for  them  also  to 
propitiate  these  up-country  potentates.  Ac 
cordingly,  the  principal  chief  with  a  few  fol 
lowers  came  to  the  agency  to  reconnoiter,  and 
make  complaint  as  to  their  treatment,  at -the 
same  time  stating  "that  they  desired  above  all 
things  to  become  fast  friends  of  the  Sioux, 
and  to  live  at  peace  with  them  in  the  future." 
For  this  purpose  he  wanted  permission  to  make 
a  visit  with  a  greater  number  of  his  followers 
at  an  early  day,  and  he  asked  me  to  intercede 
for  him  with  Spotted  Tail  and  other  chiefs.  The 
.latter  proved  agreeable  to  this  proposition,  and 
it  was  finally  arranged  that  the  Poncas  should 
come  and  make  the  visit  without  danger  to 
themselves  or  families. 

Upon  the  appointed  day  a  hundred  or  more 
men  and  women  made  their  appearance,  and 
were  welcomed  first  by  the  agency  Indians, 
who,  of  course,  had  the  usual  feast  procured  in 
the  usual  way. 

After  this  most  interesting  ceremony  was  over, 
the  drums  were  made  to  sound,  the  dance  com 
menced,  and  the  song  and  wild  whoop,  common 
to  all  tribes,  could  be  heard  far  into  the  night. 

The  next  morning  there  was  the  council,  in 
which  the  Sioux  at  the  agency  and  the  Poncas 
promised  eternal  fidelity  and  friendship,  and 
the  latter  showing  with  much  eloquence  how 
they  were  cooped  up  on  a  small  reservation, 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  71 

and  were  poor  and  needy ;  the  former  made 
them  presents,  and  led  them  rejoicing  on 
their  way  to  Spotted  Tail's  camp.  The  lat 
ter  chieftain  had  made  great  preparations  for 
a  feast,  and  was  ready  to  receive  them  with  due 
state.  They  remained  at  his  camp  about  two 
days,  and  before  their  return  to  the  agency  it 
was  announced  there,  with  much  delight,  that 
they  had  made  a  lasting  peace  with  Spotted 
Tail' s  people. 

As  they  neared  the  agency  on  their  return, 
all  the  Indians  there  joined  in  honoring  their 
new-made  friends  by  going  out  to  meet  them— 
the  squaws,  mounted  on  their  ponies,  singing 
anthems  of  praise.  They  all  entered  the 
agency  in  a  procession,  and  there  followed  in 
their  train  a  goodly  number  of  ponies — by  ac 
tual  count  one  hundred  and  ten,  which,  to 
gether  with  blankets,  robes  and  trinkets,  the 
Poncas  had  received  as  presents  from  their  new 
allies.  Thus  these  hereditary  enemies  were, 
under  fortunate  circumstances,  joined  together 
in  the  bond  of  friendship  and  brotherly  love, 
and  the  Poncas  went  home  to  sleep  in  peace 
and  security. 

According  to  custom,  a  few  Sioux  returned 
this  friendly  visit  and  enjoyed  the  hospitality 
of  the  Poncas,  thus  having  good  opportunity 
to  make  a  friendly  inspection  of  the  possessions 
of  the  latter. 


72  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

Before  long  I  was  informed,  through  the 
agent  of  the  Poncas,  that  they  were  losing  by 
theft,  not  the  small  Indian  ponies  given  them 
by  the  Sioux,  but  some  fine  American  horses, 
much  prized,  and  each  of  more  value  than 
many  ponies.  The  Ponca  chief  visited  the 
agency,  reminded  his  new-made  friends  of  their 
treaty  of  peace,  and  asked  for  his  stolen  horses, 
which  had  been  tracked  in  that  direction  ;  but, 
of  course,  they  could  not  be  found.  However, 
more  ponies  were  given  in  further  ratification 
of  friendship.  But  the  Poncas  soon  lost  all 
their  best  horses,  and  when  they  were  gone  the 
ponies  followed,  until,  after  a  few  months,  it 
was  generally  understood  that  the  compact  of 
eternal  fidelity  and  friendship  had  died  a  na 
tural  death,  and  that  the  relation  of  the  two 
tribes  of  Indians  was  the  same  as  it  had  always 
been. 

Not  unlike  civilized  States,  where  treaties 
have  been  consummated  for  similar  causes,  and 
similar  results  have  followed — the  stronger  tak 
ing  advantage  of  the  weaker. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  73 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CHURCHES    AND    SCHOOL    HOUSES INDIAN    RELIGION    AND 

SUPERSTITION TOTAL    ECLIPSE    OF    1869. 

npHERE  were  no  school  houses  or  churches  at 
J_  Whetstone,  neither  teachers  nor  minis 
ters.  My  predecessor  did  ask  me  to  receipt  for 
a  school  house  when  receiving  the  Government 
property  on  my  arrival,  but  upon  inspection  I 
found  that  it  existed  only  in  imagination.  There 
were  a  few  rough  hewn  logs  collected  upon  a 
designated  spot  of  ground,  considered  an  elig 
ible  site  for  a  school  house,  but  the  structure 
had  not  assumed  form,  except  on  paper,  which 
would  hardly  do  for  the  real  thing.  The  trees 
were  still  standing  from  which  the  church 
should  be  built. 

The  whites  engrafted  upon  the  Indians  often 
spoke  of  their  desire  for  the  school,  having  a 
hope,  perhaps,  that  the  training  therein  ob 
tained  might  improve  the  morals  of  their  half 
breed  progeny,  as,  indeed,  almost  any  life  other 
than  that  they  were  leading  would.  The  In 
dians  only  spoke  of  them  incidentally  as  hav- 


74  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

ing  been  promised  them,  and  anything  that  had 
been  promised  they  wanted,  whether  they  could 
use  it  or  not  being  a  question  of  no  importance. 
The  Department  would  furnish  a  teacher  when 
the  school  house  was  completed;  but,  as  it  pro 
vided  nothing  for  building  such  structure,  the 
teacher  was  not  wanted. 

So  far  as  the  church  and  minister  were  con 
cerned,  the  Indians  were  not  anxious.  They 
were  already  provided  with  a  religion  of  their 
own,  under  whose  tenets  they  constantly 
preached  and  practiced ;  the  medicine  man 
being  their  minister,  the  blue  sky  and  high 
bluffs  their  church  edifice.  Their  religion  was 
one  naturally  suited  to  their  wants,  correspond 
ing  to  their  ideas  of  morality  and  their  views 
of  justice ;  satisfying  their  longings  after  im 
mortality,  and  expressing  their  views  of  happi 
ness  in  the  hereafter,  and  representing  their 
conception  of  the  attributes  of  the  inscrutable 
and  omnipotent  Spirit,  who  rules  and  governs 
mankind. 

Upon  all  the  more  prominent  bluffs  near  the 
agency  could  be  found  evidences  of  their  wor 
ship,  usually  willow  sticks  five  or  six  feet  long, 
which  were  set  in  the  ground  on  the  highest 
elevation,  and  to  which  were  attached  little 
sacks,  made  of  cloth  or  dressed  skin,  contain 
ing  tobacco,  paints,  sugar  or  some  little  trinket. 
These  were  left  to  sway  in  the  wind  and  decay, 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  75 

being  held  sacred  from  molestation  by  the  In 
dians,  as  they  were  offerings  to  the  Great 
Spirit.  A  curiously  formed  rock  or  stone 
found  on  the  prairie  was  always  a  shrine  of 
worship,  covered  with  rude  figures  of  wild  ani 
mals,  and  with  medicine  sacks  and  trifling  orna 
ments  hidden  in  its  crevices. 

I  have  seen  them  at  their  feasts  cast  some  of 
their  food  upon  the  ground  before  partaking  of 
it,  thus  giving  to  the  Great  Spirit  some  portion 
of  each  article  of  food,  and  then  each  one  in 
turn  asking  in  an  audible  voice  to  be  protected 
and  guided  in  his  undertakings.  They  were 
constantly  propitiating  their  good  spirits,  and 
doing  penance  to  drive  away  the  bad  spirits. 
The  young  men  still  practiced  cruel  tortures  to 
their  flesh  in  the  annual  sun  dance,  to  fit  them 
selves  to  endure  the  hardships  and  barbarities 
of  the  relentless  warfare  waged  against  all  their 
enemies. 

I  saw  nothing  in  their  religion  but  entire  sel 
fishness  and  vindictiveness.  They  desired  even 
more  than  "an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for 
a  tooth."  They  prayed  that  their  enemies 
might  be  utterly  destroyed,  while  they  them 
selves  might  live  and  have  abundance.  The 
new  gospel  of  peace  must  be  planted  in  barren 
ground,  indeed,  among  these  people. 

They  were  full  of  superstition.  The  flight 
of  birds,  the  howling  of  wolves  and  the  barking 


76  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

of  dogs  governed  their  movements.  When  an 
Indian  was  dying  in  camp,  his  male  friends  re 
mained  just  ontside  the  lodge,  and  when  the 
death  was  announced  discharged  their  rifles  in 
the  air,  thus  driving  away  the  evil  spirit,  Death. 
The  medicine  men  practiced  upon  their  imagi 
nation  to  a  great  extent,  not  only  in  preparing 
them  for  the  dangers  of  the  battle  field,  but  in 
relieving  them  from  bodily  pain.  On  one  oc 
casion  Blue  Horse,  an  Ogallala  brave,  exhibited 
to  me  one  of  the  cutting  teeth  of  the  beaver, 
three  or  four  inches  in  length.  He  said,  with 
the  utmost  sincerity,  that  a  medicine  man  had 
with  much  difficulty,  a  few  minutes  before,  ex 
tracted  it  from  his  back,  where  it  had  caused 
him  much  pain,  but  that  he  was  all  right  now. 

Some  days  before  the  great  eclipse  of  August, 

]  869,  Dr.  C ,  physician  for  the  Indians  at 

the  agency,  concluded  to  try  his  skill  as  a  ma 
gician,  and  impress  the  Indians  with  his  magic 
art,  inseparably  connected  in  their  minds  with 
the  healing  art. 

The  doctor  announced  to  some  of  the  prin 
cipal  chiefs  and  warriors  the  coming  event,  tell 
ing  them  the  precise  time  (taken  from  an  al 
manac)  when  the  sun  would  be  obscured  and 
darkness  follow,  until  he  saw  fit  to  have  it  pass 
away.  When  the  day  and  the  hour  arrived,  the 
doctor  had  his  audience  in  readiness,  duly 
armed  with  smoked  glass.  Being  within  the 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  77 

line  of  totality,  and  having  a  cloudless  sky  and 
the  clear,  delightful  atmosphere  of  the  plains, 
the  phenomenon  was  observed  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances.  There  was  no  mis 
take  as  to  time ;  the  moon  gradually  crossed 
the  disc  of  the  sun,  a  black,  spherical  mass, 
surely  putting  out  its  light. 

The  Indians  were  impassive  lookers  on,  until, 
as  the  eclipse  reached  its  culmination,  leaving 
only  a  narrow,  bright  rim  around  the  outer 
edge  of  the  sun,  the  deepening  steel-gray 
shadows  attracted  their  attention,  as  well  as 
that  of  beasts  and  birds.  Then,  concluding 
that  the  exhibition  had  gone  far  enough,  and 
that  they  must  drive  away  the  evil  spirits,  they 
commenced  discharging  their  rifles  in  the  air. 
The  light  of  the  sun  gradually  returning,  they 
were  thoroughly  convinced  that  it  was  the  re 
sult  of  their  efforts,  and  that  the  Indians'  medi 
cine  was  better  than  the  white  man's. 

The  doctor  could  predict  the  eclipse,  but  they 
could  drive  it  away  and  prevent  any  evil  conse 
quences  arising  from  it.  So  the  doctor  failed 
in  fully  establishing  himself  as  a  big  medicine 
man. 


78  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 

INTOXICATING  LIQUOR  AMONG  INDIANS THEIR  USUAL  TEM 
PERATE  HABITS— THE  CHIEF  BIG  MOUTH  RECEIVES  HIS 
DEATH-WOUND  FROM  SPOTTED  TAIL. 

TT7HETSTOJSTE  Agency,  although  at  least  fifty 
VV  miles  from  any  white  settlement,  was  not 
exempt  from  the  baneful  influence  of  the  un 
scrupulous  ranchman,  who  follows  in  the  wake 
of  our  most  advanced  military  posts,  and 
hovers  around  secluded  Indian  agencies,  locat 
ing  as  near  their  boundary  lines  as  possible, 
often  cnJy  a  few  feet  without  the  jurisdiction  of 
either.  Ho  has,  as  a  squatter  sovereign,  an  eye 
for  a  handsome  tract  of  land,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  locates  his  ranch  on  some  well-known 
road  or  trail,  where  he  can  offer  shelter  to  the 
traveler  who  may  pass  his  way,  and  dispense 
"  forty  rod"  whiskey  and  other  fiery  drinks  to 
the  adventurer  and  desperado,  who  make  his 
habitation  their  headquarters. 

Although  the  general  laws  as  to  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquor  upon  a  reservation  were 
very  strict,  and  provided  severe  penalties  for 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF   DAKOTA.  79 

disposing  of  it  to  Indians  on  or  off  the  same, 
yet,  owing  to  the  sentiments  favoring  this  traffic 
which  prevailed  among  the  ranchmen  men 
tioned,  detection  was  well  nigh  impossible,  and 
conviction  of  the  crime  very  infrequent.  While 
the  laws  for  the  protection  of  the  Indian  were 
ample,  could  they  be  executed,  a  coloring  of 
permission  was  given  by  the  same  power  which 
framed  them,  by  granting  to  any  one,  upon  the 
payment  of  twenty -live  dollars,  a  license  to  deal 
in  ardent  spirits.  Armed  with  such  a  license, 
signed  by  an  officer  of  the  Government,  the 
dealer  felt  justified  in  vending  when  and  where 
opportunity  offered,  unless  immediate  and  forci 
ble  means  were  used  to  suppress  him.  These 
ranchmen  usually  held  such  license,  and,  by 
clandestine  intercourse  with  half-breeds,  carried 
on  a  more  or  less  profitable  trade  with  Indians, 
in  this  way  obtaining  their  ponies  at  a  low  rate, 
together  with  furs  and  peltries,  which  were 
taken  to  white  settlements  and  disposed  of. 

In  my  intercourse  with  Sioux  Indians,  I 
found  little  dissipation  among  them  as  a  class — 
very  much  less  than  would  be  found  among  the 
same  number  of  white  men.  There  were  at  the 
agency  a  dozen,  perhaps,  who  would  become 
drunk  whenever  they  could  find  the  material, 
while  many  of  the  half-breeds  seemed  to  con 
sider  it  their  bounden  duty  to  indulge  at  every 
opportunity,  becoming  wildly  demonstrative. 


80  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

and  imitating  the  gay  and  festive  ranchman 
and  desperado  with  whom  they  came  in  con 
tact,  and  whom,  being  white  men,  they  had  so 
often  heard  praised  as  enjoying  the  blessings 
of  civilization. 

0 

The  chiefs  and  headmen  often  denounced  the 
traffic,  and  Spotted  Tail  used  it  constantly  as 
an  argument  against  moving  into  the  agency, 
saying  that  he  wanted  to  keep  his  young  men 
from  such  temptation.  Big  Mouth  was  accused 
of  enjoying  strong  drink  at  times,  but  he  never 
appeared  in  public  when  much  under  its  influ 
ence.  On  one  occasion  he  was  accused  before  me 
of  having  indulged  too  freely  under  the  follow 
ing  circumstances: 

Some  fifteen  miles  from  the  reservation,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Missouri,  was  a  lonely  ranch 
conveniently  located,  being  equi-distant  be 
tween  Yankton  and  Whetstone  Agency.  It 
was  a  rude  log  cabin  completely  unfurnished, 
except  by  a  few  improvised  benches  around  the 
fire-place  and  a  barrel  of  Avhiskey  on  tap  in  one 
corner,  and  was  kept  by  the  usual  style  of 
ranchman,  with  a  Yankton  squaw  for  a  wife. 
This  man  came  to  my  office  one  morning,  and 
stated  that  the  night  before  Big  Mouth  and  a  few 
companions  Had  forced  their  way  into  his  ranch, 
driven  himself  and  wife  into  the  brush,  helped 
themselves  to  his  whiskey  ad  libitum,  dis 
charged  their  rifles  into  the  brush  where  he  was 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  81 

secreted,  demolished  the  door  of  his  cabin, 
broken  the  sash  and  glass  in  the  window,  and 
allowed  the  whiskey  to  run  completely  to 
waste ;  all  the  time  dancing  and  yelling.  He 
further  stated  that  he  wanted  damages,  and 
fixed  the  amount  at  one  hundred  dollars. 
Big  Mouth,  who  was  in  the  office,  complacently 
smoked  while  the  charges  were  interpreted  to 
him,  and,  as  he  had  no  appearance  of  having 
been  on  a  spree,  I  supposed  he  would  deny  it. 
On  the  contrary,  he  calmly  admitted  that  he 
had  thus  amused  himself,  but  added  that,  as  he 
had  no  money,  he  could  not  pay  for  it. 

The  ranchman  signified  his  willingness  to 
take  ponies,  but  Big  Mouth  was  just  out  of 
them,  and  really  could  not  see  what  the  com 
plainant  was  going  to  do  about  it.  He,  how 
ever,  offered  him  a  smoke  from  his  own  pipe,  a 
few  whiifs  of  which  was  all  the  ranchman  ever 
collected.  Big  Mouth's  self-complacency  fre 
quently  carried  him  to  the  verge  of  facetious- 
ness. 

His  most  prominent  characteristics,  however, 
were  boastful  egotism  and  arrogance.  In  his 
own  estimation  he  was  a  mighty  chieftain,  and 
the  head  of  the  Ogallala  Sioux — a  model  for 
his  people  and  a  representative  of  his  race, 
whom  civilized  white  men  might  admire.  He 
called  attention  to  himself  as  leading  his  fol 
lowers  toward  changing  the  manner  of  their 


82  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

lives,  as  the  great  father  desired,  and  often  said 
that,  if  he  had  had  all  that  had  been  promised 
him,  he  and  his  people  would  be  surrounded 
by  cultivated  fields  and  herds  of  cattle,  and 
that  their  wives  and  children  would  not  want. 
He  would  boldly  represent  in  council  that,  in 
his  desire  to  cultivate  the  soil,  he  had  dug  up  the 
ground  with  his  fingers,  for  lack  of  some  better 
implement,  while  in  truth  he  was  never  known 
to  do  anything  in  that  direction,  except  occa 
sionally  to  listlessly  watch  his  squaws,  as  they 
hoed  a  small  patch  of  corn  near  by  his  lodge. 

In  fact,  he  was  an  impracticable  and  insub 
ordinate  leader,  whom  it  had  been  long  in  con 
templation  to  depose,  by  recognizing  a  better 
Indian  as  chief  of  the  loafer  band.  Having 
some  intimatioi]  of  this,  and  feeling  that 
Spotted  Tail,  chief  of  the  Brules,  was  gradually 
increasing  in  power  and  influence,  by  the  num 
ber  of  his  followers  and  the  deference  paid  him 
when  at  the  agency,  Big  Mouth  manifested 
his  ill  feeling  and  discontent  at  the  tendency 
to  ignore  his  own  importance  by  trying  to  dis 
parage  Spotted  Tail' s  authority,  and  boasting 
that  he  had  only  to  call  upon  his  relative,  Red 
Cloud,  and  the  latter  would  seat  him  firmly  in 
power.  This  feud  continued  for  some  months, 
being  a  more  or  less  disturbing  element  in  the 
management  of  the  Indians  at  the  agency,  as  was 
also  the  more  frequent  introduction  of  whiskey  5 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  83 

at  which.  Big  Mouth,  in  his  ambitious  scheme 
to  rule  or  ruin,  connived.  A  culmination  was 
reached  during  the  night  and  following  morn 
ing  of  October  28th,  1869.  Spotted  Tail, 
with  some  of  his  warriors,  was  visiting  the 
agency  upon  his  usual  errand.  The  agency 
people  had  been  unusually  noisy  in  their  noc 
turnal  songs  and  beating  of  drums — a  pretty 
sure  evidence  that  whiskey  had  been  intro 
duced. 

About  daylight  I  was  aroused  by  a  loud  knock 
ing  at  my  door,  and  was  excitedly  informed  hy 
my  visitor,  the  man  in  charge  of  the  train 
loaded  with  supplies  for  Spotted  Tail' s  camp, 
that  the  Indians  were  fighting,  and  that  they 
had  ordered  him  not  to  move  out  with  his  train. 
Upon  going  outside,  I  found  a  brisk  discharge 
of  firearms  was  progressing,  the  bullets  whiz 
zing  through  the  air  in  various  directions  and 
producing  an  untranquilizing  effect. 

While  I  was  talking  with  the  teamster,  and 
advising  him  to  go  ahead  with  the  train,  he 
suddenly  exclaimed,  "There  they  come  ! "  and 
disappeared.  Looking  in  the  direction  indi 
cated,  I  saw  two  bodies  of  Indians  approaching, 
fully  armed  with  rifles  and  revolvers,  and  with 
their  bows  strung ;  evidently  they  meant  mis 
chief.  I  was  alone,  and  had  not  the  advantage 
wished  for  by  the  party  in  a  tight  place,  who  only 
desired  some  one  with  a  reputation  for  bravery 


84  AMONG  THE  STOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

to  run,  and  he  would  try  to  keep  up  with  him. 
As  the  Indians  came  nearer,  I  observed  that 
they  were  divided  into  two  parties,  one  headed 
by  Spotted  Tail,  and  the  other  by  Blue  Horse, 
a  brother  of  Big  Mouth.  Before  I  could  make 
up  my  mind  which  way  to  absent  myself,  I  was 
surrounded,  and,  by  gestures,  directed  to  go 
into  the  usual  council  room,  which  I  did,  fol 
lowed  by  the  chiefs  and  warriors.  The  situ 
ation  was  awkward  and  constrained.  I  did  not 
know  the  intentions  of  the  red  men,  but,  as  it 
had  often  been  intimated  that  they  could  kill 
all  the  whites  at  their  leisure  and  then  leave 
for  parts  unknown,  I  had  an  uncomfortable 
suspicion  that  the  killing  was  about  to  com 
mence,  and  that,  for  obvious  reasons,  I  should 
be  the  victim,  being  the  only  white  man  present. 
Not  understanding  the  language,  I  could  not 
tell  what  they  said,  should  they  offer  me  any 
choice  as  to  the  manner  of  my  taking  off.  To 
add  to  the  confusion,  the  discharge  of  tire  arms 
continued  outside,  and  every  shot  might  bring 
a  scalp. 

Immediately  upon  entering  the  council  room, 
Blue  Horse  commenced  a  furious  tirade  ad 
dressed,  as  far  as  I  could  understand,  to  the 
Brule  warriors.  He  added  to  the  dramatic 
effect  by  dropping  his  blanket,  and  thus  ex 
posing  his  naked  form  painted  for  war,  a  quiver 
full  of  arrows  slung  to  his  back,  in  one  hand 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  85 

his  strung  bow,  and  in  the  other  a  Winchester 
rifle,  which  lay  across  the  hollow  of  the  arm 
holding  the  bow.  A  scalping  knife  and  two 
navy  revolvers  strapped  to  his  waist  completed 
his  armament. 

In  the  midst  of  his  wild  harangue,  as  he 
bounded  about  upon  the  floor  gesticulating 
fiercely,  Spotted  Tail,  who  was  seated  near  me, 
quietly  reached  down  under  his  blanket,  un 
noticed  by  Blue  Horse,  and  cocked  his  rifle. 
Evidently  now  there  was  to  be  a  desperate 
encounter  between  the  two  factions,  Brules 
and  Ogallalas.  Confined  in  a  small  room,  with 
all  ways  of  egress  stopped  by  sullen  warriors, 
each  armed  with  the  contents  of  a  small  arsenal, 
I,  a  neutral  white  man,  would  be  the  first  slain. 

This  wild  scene  continued  for  some  time, 
when  a  movement  outside  indicated  an  arrival, 
and  there  was  ushered  into  the  room  a  white 
man,  pale  and  agitated,  whom  I  knew  under 
stood  the  Sioux  language,  and  could  tell  me 
what  was  going  on. 

Blue  Horse  kept  the  floor  until  he  gradually 
ran  down  and  stopped.  I  then  expected  to 
hear  from  the  interpreter  the  fate  of  the  white 
men  at  the  agency;  that  the  Indians  were  tired 
of  the  restraints  imposed  upon  them  by  the 
employes  of  the  Government,  and  intended  to 
incontinently  murder  all  of  them,  help  them 
selves  to  rations  to  their  heart's  content,  and 


86  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

then  journey  to  their  friends  in  the  hostile 
camps.  But  he  was  given  no  chance  to  tell  me 
the  substance  of  Blue  Horse's  tirade,  for 
"  Thigh,"  an  Ogallala  warrior  whom  I  had 
always  considered  rather  inoffensive,  rose,  and 
through  the  interpreter,  addressed  some  re 
marks  to  me.  In  the  first  place,  he  said,  a 
large  quantity  of  whiskey  had  been  brought 
to  the  agency,  and  some  of  his  friends  had 
taken  a  little  too  much.  But  who  made  the 
whiskey  ?  The  Indians  didn't ;  but  the  white 
men  did. 

I  had  to  nod  assent  to  this  proposition,  and 
he  continued  that,  as  the  white  man  made 
whiskey,  and  the  Indians  bought  and  used  it, 
it  made  their  hearts  bad  ;  and  that  he  was 
sorry  to  say  that  his  friend  Big  Mouth  had 
been  shot,  and  now  lay  dying  from  the  effects 
of  his  wound.  Furthermore,  that  Spotted  Tail 
was  the  man  who  had  committed  the  act. 

So  now  I  had  some  clue  to  the  unusual 
excitement.  Thigh  continued  his  remarks  for 
some  time,  denouncing  the  agency  and  the 
ways  of  white  men  generally,  but  more  especi 
ally  the  making  of  whiskey  ;  closing  with  a 
short  eulogy  on  Big  Mouth.  While  talking, 
he  held  in  his  hand  a  loaded  revolver  at  full 
cock,  to  assist  him  in  his  gesticulations  and 
enforce  his  points,  and  as  most  of  the  time  it 
was  pointed  towards  me,  and  within  a  few  feet 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  87 

of  my  head,  I  was  rather  glad  when  he  could 
think  of  nothing  more  to  say. 

Spotted  Tail  had  remained  seated  from  the 
time  of  his  entrance  as  unconcerned  as  a  statue, 
his  only  movement  being  the  cocking  of  his 
rifle  when  Blue  Horse  was  speaking.  He  was 
fresh  from  the  melee,  but  his  iron  nerves  were 
unshaken.  He  now  rose,  and,  having  first 
delivered  a  short  temperance  lecture,  acknowl 
edged  that  he  had  shot  Big  Mouth,  excusing 
his  action  only  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  was 
sorry.  He  then  said  that  the  object  of  their 
early  visit  was  to  lay  the  whole  matter  before 
me,  for  me  to  decide  what  should  be  done. 

This  turn  of  affairs  was  calculated  to  restore 
my  confidence,  making  me,  as  it  did,  a  judge 
in  place  of  victim.  I  was  not  particularly 
sorry  that  Big  Mouth  was  passing  away,  but 
took  the  poet's  license  to  say  that  I  was ; 
eulogized  him  as  a  true  friend  of  his  people 
and  of  the  white  man  (as  I  had  often  heard 
him  say  he  was),  and  expressed  the  hope  that 
they  would  not  allow  the  matter  to  go  further ; 
for  it  would  be  much  better  to  kill  their 
enemies,  and  not  each  other  who  were  friends. 

This  brought  forth  some  "hows"  from  the 
braves,  and  I  felt  encouraged,  and  went  on  to 
say  that,  as  Spotted  Tail  had  said  he  was 
sorry,  he  would  as  a  matter  of  course  pay 
Blue  Horse,  the  brother  of  Big  Mouth,  some 


88  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

ponies,  suggesting  ten  as  about  the  proper 
number ;  and  that,  as  most  of  them  had  made 
a  night  of  it,  they  had  better  go  to  their  tepees 
and  sleep,  and  think  over  what  had  been  said. 
Greatly  to  my  satisfaction  they  agreed  to 
this  proposition,  and  took  their  departure. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DEATH      OF      BIG      MOUTH. 

T7ERY  soon  after  the  departure  of  the  painted 
V  savages,  who  had  honored  me  with  this 
early  morning  visit,  Bine  Horse  returned,  and 
confided  to  me  that  he  felt  the  loss  of  his  noble 
brother  very  deeply,  and  thought  that  he  should 
be  obliged  to  mourn,  meaning  to  divest  himself 
of  paint,  arms  and  ornaments,  and  show  the 
bereavement  usual  at  the  loss  of  so  near  a  rela 
tive.  Thinking  that  it  might  be  the  cause  of 
still  further  demonstration  on  the  part  of  his 
friends,  I  persuaded  him  by  a  present  of  two 
blankets,  which  he  readily  accepted,  to  delay 
action  until  some  future  day.  He  then  left, 
and  for  the  lirst  time  I  had  an  opportunity  to 
learn  the  nature  of  his  remarks  when  on  the 
war  path  in  the  council.  I  found  that  he  had 
been  denouncing  Spotted  Tail  for  his  murderous 
act  in  giving  the  death-wound  to  his  brother, 
and  had  invited  him  to  continue  killing  Big 
Mouth's  relatives,  if  he  thought  best ;  that  he, 
Blue  Horse,  was  ready  and  prepared  for  the 


90  AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

conflict  when  it  came  his  turn.  As  intimated, 
however,  his  speech,  full  of  pleasant  sugges 
tions,  produced  no  particular  effect. 

Affairs  about  the  agency  were  far  from  satis 
factory.  The  employes  were  driven  from  then- 
work  by  the  too  close  proximity  of  an  occa 
sional  bullet,  fired  from  the  rifle  of  some  Indian. 
Some  of  them,  considering  discretion  the  better 
part  of  valor,  crossed  to  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Missouri,  and  found  a  place  of  safety.  Spotted 
Tail's  supply  train  was  still  held  in  abeyance, 
the  teamsters  thinking  the  risk  to  their  scalps 
too  great  to  hazard  a  departure  without  the 
consent  of  the  Indians.  The  young  bucks,  dis 
satisfied  with  the  morning' s  deliberation,  threat 
ened  to  take  matters  into  their  own  hands. 
Being  without  any  adequate  means  of  protec 
tion,  I  dispatched  a  trusty  messenger  to  Fort 
Randall,  about  thirty  miles  distant,  asking  for 
a  small  detachment  of  troops  and  a  howitzer 
to  guard  the  supplies  and  protect  the  whites  in 
case  matters  went  from  bad  to  worse. 

Big  Mouth,  though  mortally  wounded,  was 
still  living,  and  the  squaws  and  medicine  men 
were  gathered  about  him  in  great  numbers,  the 
former  shrilly  wailing,  and  the  latter  beating 
drums,  discharging  fire  arms,  and  keeping  up  a 
continuous  racket.  Although  they  were  fa 
miliar  enough  with  wounds  to  know  that  their 
chieftain  could  not  live,  word  was  sent  to  me 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  91 

that  they  wanted  Dr.  C—  -  to  try  his  healing 
powers.  It  was  far  from  a  pleasant  undertak 
ing  to  thread  our  way  through  this  mob  of 
howling  savages  to  the  dying  Big  Mouth. 

Upon  the  approach  of  the  doctor  and  myself, 
they  made  way  for  us,  but  redoubled  their  cries 
and  uproar,  whether  to  give  assurance  that  we 
would  be  safe  or  be  scalped  we  could  not  tell. 
We  found  Big  Mouth  lying  in  one  corner  of  a 
log  hut,  to  which  he  had  been  carried  after  he 
was  shot.  The  doctor  probed  the  ugly  wound 
in  the  head  of  the  doughty  Ogallala,  and  con 
vinced  himself  that  he  would  soon  be  on  his 
way  to  the  happy  hunting  ground. 

The  medicine  men  and  squaws  in  attendance 
having  closely  watched  the  doctor's  examina 
tion,  and  being  ignorant  of  a. surgeon's  duty, 
accused  him  of  speeding  Big  Mouth  to  his  death, 
thus  increasing  the  danger  of  our  visit. 

But  fortunately  we  escaped  meeting,  on  our 
way  back  to  the  agency  office,  any  Indian  whose 
heart  had  been  made  bad  by  this  incident.  In 
a  short  time  the  death  of  Big  Mouth  was  an- 
nouncede 

The  day,  which  had  commenced  with  a  trag 
edy,  was  passed  in  much  uncertainty  as  to  the 
eventual  termination  of  affairs.  When  night 
came  I  had  the  employes  gathered  into  an  iso 
lated  building,  which  was  barricaded  as  well  as 
possible;  and  here,  supplied  with  such  arms  as 


92  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

could  be  found,  we  awaited,  with  no  particular 
sense  of  security,  the  arrival  of  the  troops, 
which  very  promptly  made  their  appearance  at 
midnight. 

The  next  morning  the  presence  of  troops 
served  to  curb  the  unruly  and  suppress  the  in 
solent.  One  white  man  and  two  half-breeds,  who 
had  been  instrumental  in  introducing  whiskey, 
were  arrested.  Ten  or  a  dozen  work  oxen  were 
shot  and  killed  by  the  Indians  during  the  day, 
but  order  was  restored,  the  troops,  with  their 
prisoners,  returned  to  Fort  Randall,  and  affairs 
moved  on  again  as  usual. 

The  dead  chief  Big  Mouth  was  swathed  in 
his  best  blanket,  furnished  with  bow  and 
quiver,  pipe  and  tobacco,  for  use  in  the  happy 
hunting  ground,  and  duly  elevated  to  a 
scaifold  to  sleep  with  his  fathers.  The  honor 
of  filling  his  place  as  chief  was  divided  between 
Blue  Horse  and  Thigh. 

I  endeavored  to  obtain  from  Spotted  Tail  an 
account  of  his  affair  with  Big  Mouth,  but  he 
would  not  talk  about  it,  his  conduct  in  this 
respect  being  quite  exceptional.  Generally 
the  Indian  chief  is  boastful  to  a  disagreeable 
extent.  Not  so  Spotted  Tail.  He  never  men 
tioned  himself  when  it  could  be  avoided,  and 
would  never  relate  his  adventures  and  bloody 
conflicts,  which,  his  friends  said,  were  many. 

From  the  best  information  of  the  affair  which 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  93 

I  could  obtain,  Big  Mouth  was  entertaining 
Spotted  Tail  on  the  fatal  night,  and  had,  beside 
the  usual  feast,  some  whiskey  in  his  lodge. 
This  he  tried  to  induce  Spotted  Tail  to  drink, 
setting  the  example  himself,  but  failed.  They 
related  stories  and  sung  their  Indian  songs  in 
company  with  their  respective  friends  nearly 
all  night,  and  when,  in  the  early  morning, 
Spotted  Tail  left  the  lodge,  Big  Mou  th  folio  wed* 
him,  and  presenting  a  loaded  revolver  to  his 
breast,  attempted  to  discharge  it ;  but  fortun 
ately  the  cap  failed  to  explode.  Spotted  Tail, 
having  had  warning  of  his  intentions,  was  pre 
pared,  and  sent  a  ball  from  his  revolver  crash 
ing  through  Big  Mouth's  brain. 

As  the  latter  fell  and  attempted  to  rise,  two 
of  Spotted  Tail' s  warriors  struck  him  with  their 
revolvers  in  token  of  their  approval  of  the  act. 
The  friends  of  both  chiefs  rallied  to  their 
assistance,  and  had  some  slight  altercation, 
but  did  not  continue  the  conflict,  marching 
sullenly  instead  to  the  council  to  eventually 
accept  blood  money  in  place  of  retribution. 

Spotted  Tail  gave  Blue  Horse  the  required 
number  of  ponies,  and  thus  Indian  laws  were 
vindicated  after  the  manner  of  our  own  remote 
ancestors. 


94  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

TEXAS    BEEF    CATTLE HOW    MANAGED — INDIANS  IN  PASTORAL 

LIFE    IN    PLACE    OF    AGRICULTURAL    PURSUITS. 

AMONG  the  objects  of  greatest  interest  to 
the  Indians  were  the  beef  cattle  kept  for 
issue  to  them.  The  cattle  for  Big  Mouth's 
band  were  slaughtered  and  prepared  by  a  pro 
fessional  butcher,  and  this  work  always  claimed 
their  undivided  attention.  Mounted  upon 
their  ponies  they  would  assist  in  driving  in 
from  the  general  herd  the  requisite  number  of 
cattle,  and  remain  interested  spectators  of  the 
killing,  having  their  squaws  in  attendance  to 
carry  home  such  parts  as  were  rejected  by  their 
civilized  brother,  but  by  them  considered  great 
delicacies. 

Fire  Thunder  and  Swift  Bear  received  their 
beef  on  the  hoof,  and  their  young  bucks  took 
a  wild  delight  in  treating  them  like  buffalo. 
They  would  drive  the  cattle  near  to  their  camps, 
and,  riding  at  full  speed,  shoot  them  with 
rifles  or  bows  and  arrows,  according  to  fancy; 
thus  for  the  time  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  the 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  95 

chase.  As  has  been  said,  Spotted  Tail  steadily 
refused  to  interest  himself  in  transporting  to 
his  camp  his  supplies  of  bacon,  sugar,  coffee, 
etc.,  but  with  his  cattle  it  was  a  different  thing. 
His  young  warriors  were  always  on  hand  to 
receive  them,  usually  from  fifty  to  sixty  head 
at  a  time,  and  took  pleasure  and  interest  in 
driving  them  to  their  camp,  whatever  the  dis 
tance.  At  this  time  none  but  Texas  cattle  were 
purchased  for  the  Indians.  They  were  brought 
from  their  native  prairies,  and  were  wild  as  any 
untamed  animal.  They  had  the  wide,  branch 
ing  horns,  long  legs  and  lank  bodies  peculiar 
to  their  breed,  seldom  weighing,  at  best,  over 
a  thousand  pounds  gross  weight.  They  were 
as  fleet  as  an  elk,  and  as  easily  frightened. 
The  approach  of  a  wolf  or  a  strange  dog  would 
often  start  a  whole  herd  to  running,  causing  a 
stampede,  when  it  took  a  good  horse  and  bold 
rider  to  overtake  them. 

But  the  Mexican  herders  who  had  accom 
panied  them  from  the  southern  plains  were 
equal  to  the  emergency.  One  of  them  riding 
up  to  the  side  of  the  leader  would  apply  the 
stinging  lash  of  his  long  whip  to  the  animal's 
side,  forcing  him  to  sheer  off  from  a  direct 
line,  and  the  rest  of  the  herd  following,  he 
soon  had  them  all  running  in  a  circle.  This 
was  called  the  "mill,"  and  would  be  made 
gradually  smaller  and  smaller,  until  the 


96  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

animals  impeded  each  other's  further  pro 
gress,  their  long  horns  knocking  against  each 
other  in  wild  confusion,  and  they  finally 
stopped,  or,  in  professional  language,  uwere 
brought  to  a  round  up."  Then  one  would  be 
allowed  to  quietly  escape  in  the  right  direc 
tion,  and  the  rest  would  follow. 

At  this  time  traveling  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Missouri  was  not  considered  safe,  especially 
for  parties  with  whom  the  Indians  were  not 
familiar.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  con 
tractors  supplying  beef  cattle  to  the  various 
agencies  and  military  posts  on  the  Missouri, 
usually  crossed  their  herds  to  the  eastern  side 
of  the  river  at  or  below  Fort  Randall,  thus 
securing  a  more  frequented  route  north,  and 
one  comparatively  safe.  The  cattle  destined 
for  Whetstone  Agency  generally  came  by  this 
route,  and  had  to  recross  the  river  at  the 
Agency  by  swimming.  To  induce  them  to  do 
"this  was  an  undertaking  attended  with  many 
difficulties.  Like  most  other  animals,  whether 
wild  or  domestic,  they  became  very  much 
alarmed  when  first  coming  in  the  vicinity  of 
wild  Indians.  A  knowledge  of  this  fact  is  of 
great  value  to  the  Indians  in  their  stealing 
expeditions.  Their  wild  whoop  and  shaking 
of  blanket  or  robe,  together  with  their  peculiar 
smoky  odor,  will  set  the  most  sober-sided 
horse  or  cow  on  a  perfect  rampage. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA.  97 

When  a  herd  was  to  be  crossed  at  Whetstone, 
the  usual  proceeding  was  to  find  a  bold  bluff, 
intersected  by  a  wide  ravine  which  led  to  the 
water's  edge.  The  herders  would  drive  the 
cattle  to  the  head  of  this  ravine  and  start  them 
gently  toward  the  river,  increasing  their  speed 
until,  as  they  were  about  entering  the  stream, 
the  leaders  were  at  a  full  run.  They  would 
then  be  plunged  into  the  swift  current  by  their 
own  inertia  and  by  their  followers  closely 
packed  in  their  rear.  The  opposite  bank 
would  be  kept  clear  of  Indians,  and  often  a 
few  staid  work  oxen  placed  near  its  edge  as 
decoys ;  while  on  the  shore  from  which  the 
cattle  were  starting,  mounted  men  would  be 
stationed  who,  by  shouting  and  discharging 
fire  arms,  would  try  to  keep  the  animals  mov 
ing  in  a  line  to  the  opposite  bank. 

A  few  feet  from  the  first  plunge  into  the 
w  ater  the  cattle  would  be  swimming,  breasting 
the  rapid  current,  but  the  leaders,  getting  a 
first  whiff  of  the  tainted  Indian  air  from  the 
agency,  would  invariably  turn  their  course  and 
swim  back  toward  the  bank  which  they  had 
just  left.  In  spite  of  the  screaming  of  those 
on  shore,  the  sharp  cracking  of  whips  and  the 
discharging  of  fire  arms,  the  half-crazed  leaders 
would  blindly  return,  and,  coursing  along  the 
bank  to  a  second  ravine,  dash  through  it  and 
out  on  to  the  prairie,  followed,  into  the  river 


98  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

and  out  again,  by  the  whole  herd  of  five  or 
six  hundred. 

After  a  long  chase  the  herd  would  be 
" rounded  to,"  and  driven  to  the  head  of  the. 
ravine  to  repeat  the  same  manoeuver.  This 
was  often  done  again  and  again,  in  the  hope 
each  time  that  some  animal  would  conclude  to 
cross  to  the  opposite  shore,  and  thus  set  an  ex 
ample  which  the  others  would  surely  follow. 

In  the  fall  and  spring,  when  the  water  was 
cold,  which  added  to  the  difficulty,  I  have 
spent  three  or  four  days  in  trying  to  "make  a 
crossing,"  as  it  is  called,  being  assisted  by  the 
practical  lore  of  the  professional  herder,  the 
knowledge  of  the  frontiersman,  and  by  the  In 
dians,  who  were  the  most  expert  of  all.  Any 
one  of  the  last  would  ride  boldly  into  the  water 
among  the  struggling  animals,  and  swimming 
his  pony  to  the  side  of  one  of  the  leaders,  jump 
astride  his  back,  and  try  to  keep  him  in  a 
direct  course  for  the  opposite  bank  by  knock 
ing  with  a  club  on  his  long  horns  when  he  at 
tempted  to  turn,  which  he  generally  did.  When 
fairly  on  the  way  to  the  shore,  and  beyond  the 
possibility  of  turning,  the  Indian  would  draw 
his  pony  to  his  side  by  his  long  lariat,  remount 
and  extricate  himself  from  the  swimming  mass 
of  infuriated  animals.  The  white  men  follow 
ing  on  the  flanks,  and  swimming  their  horses 
into  the  water,  would  come  to  the  shore  shak- 


AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  99 

ing  with  cold,  while  the  Indians  and  half-breeds 
would  be  unaffected,  although  naked  except 
the  kilts  about  their  loins. 

After  many  and  various  attempts  at  crossing, 
the  same  herd  would  be  brought  to  the  river, 
driven  in,  and,  without  any  apparent  cause, 
would  strike  out  for  the  opposite  shore,  seem 
ingly  thinking  further  opposition  useless. 

The  forcible  manner  of  driving  would  some 
times  be  varied,  after  a  day's  rest,  by  taking 
advantage  of  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  these 
animals.  A  herder  would  ride  out  in  front  of 
them,  and  by  singing  in  a  low  voice  a  melo 
dious  song,  or  whistling  in  a  minor  key,  he 
could  often  lead  the  whole  herd  in  any  direc 
tion  he  wished,  apparently  charming  them  by 
his  really  musical  notes. 

The  waters  of  the  Missouri,  with  their  ever 
varying  channel,  like  the  ghost  in  "Hamlet," 
unow  here,  now  there,"  rendered  the  finding 
of  a  landing  for  a  steamboat  a  matter  of  experi 
ment,  and  it  was  often  necessary  to  land  stores 
two  or  three  miles  from  the  agency.  The  In 
dians  always  found  their  way  to  the  temporary 
landings,  and,  seating  themselves  on  prominent 
points  of  observation,  were  seemingly  passive 
lookers  on,  but  really  they  were  intensely  in 
terested  as  to  the  number  of  bales  of  blankets, 
boxes  of  tobacco,  barrels  of  sugar  and  sacks  of 
coffee. 


100  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

Handling  these  supplies  and  hauling  them  to 
shelter  from  threatening  storms  were  often 
questions  of  great  moment,  but  under  no  cir 
cumstances  was  I  ever  able  to  get  the  Indians 
to  assist  in  this  labor.  My  own  example  passed 
for  nothing.  This  was  to  them  hewing  of 
wood  and  drawing  of  water,  and,  according  to 
the  laws  of  their  customs,  women's  work,  far 
beneath  their  dignity  as  lords  of  creation. 

The  Sioux  are  not  indolent  and  lazy  after  the 
manner  of  Hottentots,  for,  when  called  upon  to 
perform  what  they  consider  man's  work,  they 
exhibit  remarkable  endurance  and  activity. 
Unequaled  in  the  hunt  and  chase,  when  pro 
viding  for  their  families;  unsurpassed  in  horse 
manship;  bold  scouts  and  faithful  couriers; 
masters  of  their  various  weapons;  fitted  to  en 
dure  the  winter's  cold  and  summer's  heat;  and 
fully  partaking  of  the  characteristics  of  all 
born  to  the  rigors  of  a  northern  climate,  their 
energy,  if  properly  directed,  would  carry  them 
into  much  more  useful  and  surer  fields  of 
advancement  than  does  the  policy  in  their 
treatment  heretofore  indicated. 

Why  endeavor  to  make  of  poor  material 
unwilling  agriculturists,  in  place  of  leading 
them  to  a  pastoral  life,  for  which  they  show 
considerable  inclination,  and  which  has  always 
come  first  in  the  regular  state  of  advancement 
from  barbarism  to  civilization  ? 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  101 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

DISTINGUISHED     CHIEFS     ARRIVE     AT     THE     AGENCY    FOK     THE 

WINTER PAWNEE     KILLER    AND    BUCK  — SURVEYING    PARTY 

INDIANS    AND    INDIANS. 

THE  routine  of  affairs  at  the  agency  during 
the  winter  was  occasionally  relieved  by 
the  arrival  of  some  distinguished  chieftain, 
with  a  more  or  less  numerous  following,  who 
had  passed  the  summer  and  fall  in  raiding  on 
stock  and  taking  scalps  in  the  direction  of  the 
Platte  River,  or  with  congenial  friends  in  the 
Powder  River  country,  or  the  Rose  Bud,  and, 
now  that  cold  weather  had  come,  visited  the 
agency  to  spy  out  the  land,  and  see  how  it 
fared  with  their  brethren  who  were  making 
pretensions- to  "  learn  the  ways  of  white  men," 
as  the  Indians  expressed  it. 

One  of  these  chiefs  was  Red  Leaf.  He  had 
the  reputation  of  being  a  bold  warrior  and  gal 
lant  leader,  and  of  having  taken  a  leading  part 
in  the  Port  Phil.  Kearney  massacre  of  1866. 

Red  Leaf  s  followers,  men,  women  and  chil 
dren,  had  a  much  wilder  appearance  than  their 


102  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

Mends  at  the  agency.  In  place  of  woolen 
blankets  and  calico  dresses,  indicative  of  con 
tact  with  an  agency  and  annuity  goods,  they 
wore  gaily  painted  and  ornamented  robes,  buck 
skin  leggins,  and  garments  made  of  dressed 
deer  and  antelope  skins,  decorated  with  beads 
and  bright  -  colored  porcupine  quills.  This 
dress,  corresponding  to  their  wild  habits,  added 
much  to  their  novelty  and  picturesqueness. 

Their  presence  carried  with  it  the  impress  of 
their  wild,  native  independence.  Their  manner 
had  more  of  ease  and  confidence,  their  step  was 
more  elastic  and  firm,  and  their  eyes  more  keen 
in  the  quick  glance  of  observation,  than  the 
agency  Indians.  Beside  them  the  latter  ap 
peared  to  be  in  a  stage  of  semi-somnambulism, 
from  over-feeding  and  want  of  exercise.  They 
were  in  the  torpor  of  the  chrysalis  state,  waiting 
to  come  forth,  under  the  peace  policy,  full  fledged 
white  men  in  manners  and  habits.  At  present 
the  wilder  sons  of  the  prairie  had  the  advantage 
in  point  of  appearance. 

If  they  were  thus  attractive  to  me,  it  was  not 
strange  that  their  own  kith  and  kin  should  be 
still  more  interested  in  them,  and  should  show 
them,  still  true  representatives  of  their  race, 
every  mark  of  admiration  and  esteem. 

Their  coming  was  always  announced  days 
beforehand  by  Indian  couriers,  who  were  con 
stantly  carrying  news  from  camp  to  camp,  and 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  103 

tlieir  arrival  waited  for  with  impatience.  The 
agency  Indians  killed  the  fatted  calf  and  sung 
and  danced  before  them,  and  in  their  zeal  to 
help  their  friends  made  inordinate  demands  for 
blankets,  tobacco,  powder  and  lead — the  cov 
eted  wants  of  all  Indians.  As  I  had  none  of 
these  articles  in  store,  they  could  not  be  sup 
plied,  and  the  next  demand  would  be  for  a 
large  quantity  of  food.  The  latter  was  given, 
after  assurance  by  the  new  comer  that  it  was 
his  present  intention  to  locate  near  the  agency, 
or  with  Spotted  Tail,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
remain  at  peace. 

Another  visitor  was  Roman  Nose,  a  Minne- 
conjou  Sioux,  celebrated  among  the  Indians  as 
the  active  leader  in  many  bold  forays  against 
their  enemies.  He,  with  a  number  of  lodges, 
made  his  appearance  when  snow  began  to  fly, 
and  wanted  rations  and  quiet  for  the  winter 
under  the  usual  promise. 

Roman  Nose  wore  at  this  time  a  hunting 
jacket  made  of  dressed  skins,  which  was 
trimmed  about  the  neck  and  shoulders  with 
scalp  locks  taken  from  those  he  had  killed. 
The  hair  was  long  and  much  too  fine  for  that 
of  Indians.  Some  poor  white  women  had  paid 
the  penalty  of  following  their  husbands  into 
the  sparsely  settled  parts  of  Kansas  and  Ne 
braska,  thus  encroaching  on  the  hunting  ground 
of  this  noble  savage. 


104  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

Whistler,  an  Ogallala,  who  had  made  him 
self  rather  notorious  during  the  summer  months 
on  the  Republican  and  Platte  Rivers,  turned 
his  course  towards  Spotted  Tail's  camp,  causing 
the  latter  to  ask  for  an  increased  supply  of 
cattle,  bacon,  etc. 

And  last,  though  not  least,  Pawnee  Killer, 
an  Ogallala  brave,  made  his  appearance  at  the 
agency  with  a  small  following.  This  chieftain 
was  well  known  on  the  Republican,  and  at 
Forts  Laramie  and  Fetterman.  He  announced 
that  he  had  been  operating  in  the  field  with  a 
small  force  during  the  summer,  and  implied 
that  he  had  come  to  the  agency  for  rest  and 
recreation  for  the  winter. 

So  far  as  villainy  can  be  depicted  in  the 
human  countenance,  it  was  to  be  found  in 
Pawnee  Killer's.  His  face  had  a  lean  and 
hungry  look;  he  was  long  and  lank,  and  re 
minded  one  of  a  prowling  wolf.  He  seldom 
smiled  while  talking  with  his  companions,  but 
stalked  about  with  his  blanket  closely  wrapped 
around  him,  as  if  expecting  at  each  turn  to 
pounce  upon  an  enemy,  or  be  himself  attacked. 
He  had  a  murderous  looking  set  of  followers, 
and  all  indications  pointed  to  the  fact  that  they 
had  come  red  handed  from  killing  an  innocent 
party  of  white  men  on  the  Republican  River, 
in  Nebraska.  During  the  month  of  August, 
1869,  Mr.  Nelson  Buck,  in  charge  of  a  survey- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  105 

ing  party,  consisting  of  twelve  persons,  was 
making  surveys  of  Government  land  in  Ne 
braska,  when  the  party  was  attacked  by  In 
dians  and  all  of  them  killed.  Pawnee  Killer 
and  his  friends  were  supposed  to  have  been  en 
gaged  in  the  affair,  and  to  know  the  particu 
lars,  which  the  friends  of  Mr.  Buck  and  others 
were  anxious  to  obtain,  as  also  their  bodies  for 
decent  burial.  It  was  made  my  duty  to  investi 
gate  the  matter. 

Through  the  influence  of  a  supply  of  rations 
and  a  gift  of  tobacco,  Pawnee  Killer  was  in 
duced  to  relate  this  version  of  the  affair,  which 
was  corroborated  by  his  friends.  That  he, 
with  a  number  of  other  Indians,  while  hunting 
on  the  Republican,  in  Nebraska,  during  the 
past  summer,  had  discovered  a  party  of  sur 
veyors  engaged  at  work,  and  near  by  their 
temporary  camp,  in  which  were  tents  and  a 
wagon,  which  the  Indians  supposed  contained 
provisions.  A  man  was  engaged  cooking  at  a 
camp  fire  near  the  wagon,  and  some  of  the 
young  men  of  Pawnee  Killer's  party  ap 
proached  him  with  the  intention  of  asking  for 
food,  as  they  were  hungry.  While  they  were 
asking  for  something  to  eat,  some  of  the  sur 
veying,  party  approached,  and,  while  partially 
concealed  in  a  clump  of  brush,  fired  upon  them, 
wounding  one  of  the  Indians. 

This  commenced  the  fight  in  which  eight,  of 


106  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

the  party  of  twelve,  surveyors  were  killed, 
while  the  Indians  lost  three  killed.  Four  of 
Mr.  Buck's  party,  who  had  entrenched  them 
selves,  they  were  unable  to  dislodge,  so,  after 
destroying  the  camp  and  wagon  and  such 
surveying  instruments  as  they  could  find,  they 
retired  from  the  scene  of  conflict.  The  re 
maining  four  surveyors,  Pawnee  Killer  sup 
posed  were  killed  by  another  party  of  Indians 
known  to  be  near  there. 

Pawnee  Killer  excused  the  act  on  the  ground 
that  the  white  men  commenced  the  fight,  and 
enraged  his  young  men  so  that  he  could  not 
restrain  them.  This  was  all  the  information  I 
could  gain.  There  was  no  further  proof  that 
he  himself  was  one  of  the  murderers  of  the 
Buck  party,  but  I  never  thought  he  was  any 
too  good  to  be. 

I  found  that  there  were  Indians  and  Indians. 
But  many  people  living  at  a  distance  judge 
them  as  all  one  class.  When  reading  accounts 
of  the  cruel  brutality  with  which  some  of  the 
murders  of  white  men  are  committed,  they 
jump  to  the  conclusion  that  all  Indians,  wher 
ever  found,  are  murderers,  and  should  be 
exterminated.  This  judgment,  I  believe,  would 
not  be  given  upon  a  more  intimate  acquaint 
ance  with  these  people,  for  there  are  undoubt 
edly  many  among  them  who  have  never  com 
mitted  outrages  except  in  a  state  of  war,  and 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  107 

then,  under  their  tribal  system,  all  must 
become  involved  as  a  matter  of  self-preserva 
tion. 

We  must  remember  the  brutal  outrages  com 
mitted  every  day  by  white  men  in  civilized 
communities.  This  universal  condemnation  of 
an  unenlightened  people  has  resulted  in  great 
injustice  to  them.  Indians  have  been  merci 
lessly  shot  down  simply  because  they  were 
Indians. 

When  this  indiscriminate  condemnation  is 
so  common  among  civilized  people,  it  is  not 
strange  to  find  it  almost  universal  with  the 
savage.  If  an  Indian  is  enraged  by  a  real  or 
supposed  injury  from  a  white  man,  he  swears 
vengeance  on  the  whole  race,  and  one  white 
man' s  scalp  is  as  good  as  another. 


108  AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

DISCONTENT — EPXEDITIONS    TO    EXPLORE    THE    BLACK    HILLS 
AND    WOLF    MOUNTAINS. 

DURING  the  fall  of  18.59  and  winter  of  1870, 
more  than  usual  discontent  appeared 
among  the  Indians,  due  to  various  causes,  one 
of  the  principal  of  which  was  the  lack  of  suit 
able  clothing  and  shelter  in  the  severe  winter 
weather  of  that  latitude.  Their  tepees  were 
thin  and  worn,  and  no  canvas  had  arrived  to 
renew  them,  while  the  distribution  of  ready- 
made  clothing  had  been  anything  but  satis 
factory.  They  had  no  idea  of  exchanging  their 
native  dress  for  the  cheap  clothing  of  soldiers, 
dyed  to  conceal  its  original  design.  The  goods 
suitable  to  their  wants,  for  which  I  had  asked 
so  long  ago,  had  not  arrived,  and  I  was  obliged 
to  listen  to  many  uncomplimentary  remarks 
regarding  my  efficiency  as  an  agent,  and  even 
some  reflections  on  my  character  for  truthful 
ness. 

The  wild  and   turbulent  spirits  which   the 
approach  of  winter  had  brought  among  them 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA.  109 

helped  to  increase  the  discontent  and  dissatis 
faction  by  their  accounts  of  the  bold  raids,  the 
startling  attacks  upon  their  enemies  and  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase,  which  they  had  enjoyed 
during  their  free  and  independent  summer  life. 
The  old  habits  never  lost  their  charm,  and 
beside  them  their  present  life  seemed  tame  and 
dull. 

The  ranchman  became  more  bold  in  his  ne 
farious  trade,  owing  to  the  failure  to  convict  in 
the  courts  some  of  the  most  notorious  venders 
of  intoxicating  drink.  In  spite  of  the  best  pre 
cautions  possible  under  the  circumstances, 
there  was  considerable  whiskey  consumed  at 
the  agency,  greatly  to  the  detriment  of  the 
Indians  and  their  associates. 

They  were  still  smarting  under  the  chastise 
ment  of  their  friends  by  the  Pawnee  Scouts, 
and  the  young  men  meditated  further  ven 
geance. 

They  had  again  asked  permission  to  hunt  on 
the  Republican,  under  the  stipulations  of  their 
treaty,  and  to  be  accompanied  by  some  reliable 
white  man,  who  should  govern  their  movements 
and  see  that  they  did  not  molest  settlers.  This 
request  had  been  refused,  and,  considering 
that  an  injustice  had  been  done  them,  they 
constantly  referred  to  the  subject  in  their 
talks.  It  was  indeed  a  serious  matter  to  them, 
for  the  buffalo  is  a  perfect  store  house  of  family 


110.  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

supplies.  His  robe  more  than  takes  the  place 
of  the  white  man's  blanket;  his  dressed  and 
smoked  hide  make  better  material  for  lodges 
than  canvas  ;  the  rich  marrow  of  his  bones 
furnishes  butter;  his  dried  sinews  their  thread; 
his  hoofs  and  horns  the  glue  to  strengthen  and 
embellish  their  bows  and  complete  their  arrows; 
while  his  flesh  is  their  natural  food  the  year 
round,  that  which  is  not  wanted  for  immediate 
use  being  dried  without  salt  in  the  pure  air  of 
the  plains  and  preserved  for  future  use. 

Another  grievance  was  that  they  learned, 
through  the  whites  engrafted  on  them,  of 
meetings  in  eastern  cities  which  were  ad 
dressed  by  speakers  giving  glowing  accounts 
of  the  richness  of  the  country  which  the  Sioux 
occupied.  These  individuals  drew  entirely 
upon  their  imagination  for  these  facts,  exag 
gerating  in  proportion  to  their  ignorance  of  the 
real  resources  of  the  country.  They  pictured 
a  new  Eldorado  in  the  Big  Horn  Mountains 
and  Black  Hills,  and  called  upon  the  adven 
turers  and  enterprising  to  join  expeditions 
which  were  to  start  in  the  spring  from  Laramie 
in  the  south,  and  from  some  point  in  Montana 
in  the  north-west,  and  fight  their  way  through 
to  their  destination  in  spite  of  hostile  Indians. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  was  projected, 
and  newspapers  gave  glowing  accounts  of  the 
rich  lands  west  of  the  Missouri  to  be  opened 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  Ill 

to  the  agriculturist,  and  of  the  beds  of  coal 
and  mines  of  gold  and  silver.  These  matters 
were  discussed  in  meetings  and  by  newspapers 
without  the  slightest  reference  to  the  rights 
and  possessions  of  the  Indians  guaranteed  by 
solemn  treaty.  The  same  unsettled  state  of 
affairs  as  at  Whetstone  extended  to  all  the 
agencies  on  the  Missouri.  The  Indians  became 
more  and  more  clamorous  and  demonstrative, 
and  I  determined  to  ask  for  a  small  detachment 
of  troops  to  be  permanently  stationed  at  the 
agency.  I  required  some  adequate  means  to 
arrest  white  offenders  against  the  intercourse 
laws,  as  well  as  to  curb  the  Indians. 

The  young  bucks  did  not  look  with  favor 
upon  the  arrival  of  troops.  Naturally  enough 
they  did  not  wish  to  be  restrained  in  the  least, 
but  it  seemed  likely  to  prove  good  discipline 
for  them.  The  elder  and  more  conservative 
Indians  looked  upon  the  matter  with  indiffer 
ence. 

So  the  guard  of  troops  arrived,  and  some 
months  later  a  permanent  garrison  was  estab 
lished,  and  had  a  beneficial  effect. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

DAKOTA  BLIZZARD ARRIVAL  OF  A  LARGE  QUANTITY   OF 

INDIAN  GOODS TALKS  ABOUT  CULTIVATING  THE  SOIL. 

rpHEKE  had  been  several  Dakota  blizzards 
1  during  the  winter.  These  storms  are  pe 
culiar  to  the  plains;  the  air  is  filled  with  fine 
particles  of  sharp,  cutting  ice  and  snow,  which 
are  driven  and  whirled  with  blinding  force  by 
a  gale  of  wind,  often  obscuring  the  sun  and 
even  objects  but  a  few  feet  distant,  the  mercury 
at  the  same  time  standing  many  degrees  below 
zero. 

The  Indians  have  learned  to  remain  in  their 
lodges  during  these  storms,  or,  if  traveling,  to 
move  with  their  families  and  ponies  into  some 
sheltered  ravine,  and  there  await  the  subsidence 
of  the  gale;  but  the  inexperienced  traveler,  who 
endeavors  to  keep  on  his  journey,  is  blinded 
by  the  fury  of  the  blast,  loses  his  way,  and 
often  perishes  of  cold  and  hunger. 

These  storms  usually  last  three  days,  and 
then  the  wind  dies  down  to  a  gentle  breeze,  the 
sun  shines  out  warm  and  clear  in  a  cloudless 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA.  113 

sky,  and  those  who  live  in  the  land  can  come 
forth  and  look  over  their  losses  of  cattle  and 
horses,  buried  in  snow  drifts  and  dead  from 
suffocation  and  cold,  if  not  to  mourn  the  loss 
of  some  too  adventurous  friend,  who  has  per 
ished  by  the  way  side. 

Under  many  difficulties  a  fence  had  been 
built  around  one  of  the  principal  cultivated 
fields  at  the  agency.  The  trees  had  been  felled 
and  the  logs  hauled  to  the  saw  mill,  where  they 
were  made  into  fence  boards;  cedar  posts  had 
been  rafted  from  an  island  in  the  river  above 
the  agency;  and  the  whole,  when  finished,  was 
looked  upon  with  much  pride  by  the  head 
farmer,  as  being  a  mile  and  a  half  of  good 
board  fence,  as  it  was.  I  had  repeatedly  called 
the  attention  of  the  Indians  to  it,  and  asked 
them  to  watch  over  it  and  see  that  it  was  not 
injured,  as,  when  spring  came,  it  would  be 
wanted  to  protect  the  corn  and  grain  which 
were  to  be  cultivated.  During  one  of  these 
blizzards  of  the  highest  type,  there  were  four 
days  during  which  none  of  the  agency  em 
ployes  ventured  out,  and  when  they  did  it  was 
to  discover  that  the  much  admired  board  fence 
had  almost  entirely  disappeared.  The  squaws 
had  appropriated  boards  and  posts,  and  cut 
them  up  for  their  lodge  fires.  The  men  must 
have  been  aware  of  it,  but,  as  the  squaws  ordi 
narily  had  to  pack  all  their  wood  on  their  backs 


114  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

from  an  island  half  a  mile  or  more  distant,  they 
probably  winked  at  the  depredation,  and,  when 
they  saw  the  fence  boards  brought  in  and  piled 
upon  the  blazing  fire,  took  the  chances  of  hav 
ing  another  fence  built  of  green  cottonwood 
boards,  which  would  be  dry  enough  for  tepee 
fires  next  winter.  I  took  the  first  occasion  to 
speak  of  the  loss  of  the  fence,  but  they  failed 
to  shed  tears  or  feel  deeply  depressed  at  the 
rather  expensive  way  their  squaws  had  taken 
to  keep  them  comfortable  during  the  storm. 

In  February  there  .appeared  a  train  of  wagons 
from  below,  loaded  with  the  long-expected 
blankets,  etc.  The  delay  in  their  arrival  di 
minished  greatly  the  effect  of  the  beneficence. 
Over  six  months  of  waiting  from  day  to  day 
would  destroy  the  heart  of  a  more  patient 
people. 

These  goods  were  among  the  first  purchased 
under  the  supervision  of  the  peace  commission 
ers,  and  the  blankets  and  cloths  were  all  of  the 
best  quality.  The  quantity  was  large,  and  sup 
plied  all  with  articles  which  they  had  long 
needed.  Thirty-one  thousand  yards  of  canvas 
gave  them  new  lodges,  eight  hundred  blankets 
gave  one  to  each  warrior,  seventeen  thousand 
yards  of  calico  gratified  female  wants  and  vani 
ties,  and  fifty  boxes  of  tobacco  solaced  chiefs 
and  warriors  as  they  smoked  and  meditated. 
For  the  time  their  hearts  were  glad.  I  im- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  115 

proved  the  opportunity  to  remind  them  of  the 
desire  of  their  Great  Father  that  they  should 
learn  to  cultivate  the  soil.  They  made  the 
usual  promise,  and  said  that  they  were  perfectly 
willing  to  do  so  provided  they  had  the  means. 
All  they  wanted  was  plenty  of  hoes  and  seed 
corn;  I  should  see.  But  this  talk  I  had  already 
discovered  amounted  to  nothing  so  far  as  they 
were  individually  concerned,  as  each  particular 
talker  in  council  (the  women  were  never  allowed 
even  to  listen)  meant,  when  expressing  a  will 
ingness  to  work,  that  he  would  put  his  squaws 
at  it,  and  nothing  more.  I  never  saw  but  one 
Indian  man  working  in  the  field  while  at  this 
agency.  He  was  old  and  superannuated,  and 
had  lost  all  regard  for  the  pomps  and  vanities  of 
this  world. 

Swift  Bear  had  received  a  good  number  of 
blankets  and  a  quantity  of  tepee  cloth,  and 
was  inclined  to  be  rather  eloquent  on  the  sub 
ject  of  agriculture.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that  he  wanted  a  ploughed  field  to  himself, 
with  a  good  house  near  at  hand,  where  he  could 
sit  and  watch  his  corn  and  potatoes  growing, 
while  his  people  could  look  on,  admire,  and 
perhaps  imitate  his  example. 

I  took  him  at  his  word.  A  few  acres  were 
broken  and  fenced  about  on  a  spot  selected  by 
himself,  and  a  comfortable  log  house  erected 
as  he  desired.  But  it  never  pleased  him.  He 


116  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

was  no  better  than  the  rest,  and  turned  his 
squaws  out  to  labor,  while  he  made  use  of  his 
house  only  by  moving  his  canvas  tepee  near  it. 
Thus  he  realized  his  dreams  of  being  a  husband 
man. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  117 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

SPOTTED     TAIL     AS     A     FARMER HIS     CAMP     AT     A    DISTANCE 

FROM    THE  AGENCY ITS    CONTENTMENT  AWAY  FROM  CIVIL 
IZING    INFLUENCES. 

WHILE  he  was  visiting  at  the  agency,  Spotted 
Tail  was  approached  on  the  important  sub 
ject  of  settling  down  and  cultivating  the  soil. 
He  was  offered  plenty  of  ploughed  ground,  a 
good  log  house,  and  all  the  farming  implements 
he  wanted,  but  he  either  evaded  the  subject 
altogether  or  declined  the  offers,  on  the  ground 
that  he  did  not  like  the  situation  at  the  present 
agency,  nor,  in  fact,  any  other  point  upon  the 
Missouri.  He  wanted  an  agency  located  upon 
the  White  Earth  River,  or  at  almost  any  point 
except  the  present  one.  While  talking  to  him 
on  the  subject  of  farming,  he  seemed  to  take 
about  as  much  real  interest  in  the  matter  as  a 
well-to-do  farmer  would  were  he  asked  to  adopt 
the  habits  and  fashions  of  a  Sioux  Indian.  It 
was  the  same  with  most  of  the  Indians  under 
his  control.  They  often  compared  their  man 
ner  of  living  very  favorably  with  that  of  the 


118  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA, 

white  men  with  whom  they  came  in  contact, 
whose  manners  and  customs  they  could  not  see 
were  any  improvement  upon  their  own.  In 
many  instances  they  were  not  far  out  of  the 
way. 

There  were,  as  has  been  mentioned,  a  number 
of  white  men  at  the  agency  who  had  married 
Sioux  women,  but  at  this  time  none  of  them 
dwelt  in  Spotted  Tail' s  -camp.  I  knew  but  one 
white  man  that  did.  He  was  a  hard-looking 
specimen,  much  more  untidy  in  appearance 
than  the  Indians  with  whom  he  lived.  I  never 
learned  where  they  picked  him  up,  but  he  was 
seemingly  contented  with  his  lot,  though  he 
was  simply  tolerated  among  them,  and  treated 
as  a  menial,  being  required  to  bring  wood  and 
water  and  fetch  coals  of  fire  to  light  their  pipes. 
This  man  had  some  education,  and  I  tried  to 
employ  him,  as  he  lived  in  their  camp,  to  give 
me  some  information  as  to  the  number  of  people 
in  the  village — a  subject  guarded  by  them  with 
jealous  care.  But  either  from  indolence  or  from 
fear  of  the  Indians  he  was  never  of  any  assist 
ance,  and  I  soon  dropped  him. 

Spotted  Tail  and  those  associated  with  him 
were  much  interested  in  the  arrival  of  the  an 
nuity  goods,  and,  in  order  to  have  them  quickly 
delivered  at  their  camp — and  also  to  supply 
themselves  with  tepee  poles,  the  frame  work  of 
their  dwellings,  moved  their  camp  to  within 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  119 

twenty-five  miles  of  the  agency.  The  new 
camp  was  toward  the  northwest,  and  near  the 
Missouri,  so  that  they  were  but  a  short  distance 
from  an  island,  upon  which  was  a  small  growth 
of  cedar  of  proper  size  for  the  squaws  to  make 
into  tepee  poles.  As  each  tepee  required  about 
fifteen  poles  to  pitch  it  properly,  and  as  from 
constant  use  they  often  became  broken  and  un 
serviceable,  this  was  a  matter  of  great  import 
ance.  The  new  blankets  having  been  donned, 
and  the  new  canvas  made  into  tepees,  Spotted 
Tail  was  inclined  to  be  proud  of  these  acquisi 
tions,  and  invited  me  to  visit  his  camp  and  see 
how  comfortably  he  and  his  people  were  living. 
As  their  new  outfit  had  been  obtained  prin 
cipally  through  his  persistent  exertions,  he 
claimed  rightfully  the  honor  it  brought  with  it. 

Accordingly,  one  bright  spring  morning,  I  set 
out  for  the  Indian  village,  accompanied  by  my 
interpreter.  By  following  a  well  defined  trail, 
made  by  the  trains  which  transported  supplies, 
and  by  the  passage  of  moving  families  with 
packed -ponies,  and  tepee  poles  trailing  on  the 
ground,  we  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  our  way 
over  the  otherwise  level  and  trackless  prairie. 

As  we  approached  the  village,  we  found  a 
more  broken  country,  our  trail  leading  over 
high  buttes  and  across  deep  ravines.  Making 
a  few  short  turns  at  the  base  of  the  buttes,  and 
ascending  the  side  of  a  ravine,  we  came  in  view 


120  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA. 

of  the  camp.  Scattered  in  rather  irregular 
order  were  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  lodges. 
An  open  space  in  the  centre  answered  the  pur 
pose  of  a  public  square,  and  overlooking  this 
was  the  council  lodge,  and,  in  close  proximity 
to  it,  Spotted  Tail's  tepees,  three  in  number. 
We  were  escorted  to  one  o±  these,  and  as  we 
approached  he  emerged  and  welcomed  us,  in- 
viling  us  to  dismount  and  enter.  Upon  doing 
so  we  were  immediately  offered  coffee  and  meat 
to  refresh  us  after  our  morning  ride.  My  inter 
preter  had  warned  me  that  feasting  would  be 
the  principal  entertainment,  so  I  governed  my 
self  accordingly  and  did  not  partake  too  freely 
the  first  time. 

Like  other  great  rulers,  Spotted  Tail  had  his 
little  annoyances,  known  only  to  those  behind 
the  throne.  Being  the  principal  chieftain,  he 
was  constantly  called  upon  by  those  wanting 
counsel  and  advice,  and  custom  demanded,  that 
all  callers  should  have  something  offered  them 
to  eat,  so  that  his  larder  had  constant  drafts 
made  upon  it.  In  order  to  sustain  his  dignity 
in  this  respect,  I  sent  him  extra  coffee,  bacon  and 
sugar  by  each  supply  train,  the  articles  being 
left  without  comment  in  his  lodge.  This  was 
in  addition  to  his  regular  share.  On  this  very 
day  there  were  no  less  than  five  or  six  warriors 
in  the  lodge,  who  were  replenishing  themselves 
from  the  boiling  pot  suspended  oyer  the  fire. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  121 

The  interior  of  the  tepee  showed  no  marks  of 
princely  state,  or  tokens  of  power  and  wealth. 
It  was  of  ordinary  size,  of  the  well-known 
conical  shape  of  all  Sioux  Indian  lodges,  and 
so  iilled  in  around  the  edge  with  family  stores 
of  various  kinds  that  but  little  room  was  left  for 
the  occupants.  In  the  center  was  the  fire,  the 
smoke  from  which  escaped  through  a  hole  in 
the  top,  and  around  it  were  robes  and  blankets 
spread  upon  the  ground.  On  these  you  could 
lounge  with  your  back  against  the  stores,  and 
your  feet  at  a  comfortable  distance  from  the 
fire.  The  smoke  of  the  Indian  tobacco  (com 
posed  of  one-third  tobacco  and  two-thirds  of 
the  inner  bark  of  the  red  willow,  dried),  to 
gether  with  a  portion  of  the  smoke  from  the 
fire,  usually  fills  the  upper  part  of  a  tepee,  and 
gives  its  contents  a  not  unpleasant  smoky  odor. 

Spotted  Tail's  favorite  wife  was  doing  the 
honors.  It  was  said  that  he  possessed  three 
others,  but  he  did  not  take  sufficient  pride  in 
them  to  have  them  call  around  on  this  occasion. 

Going  outside  and  looking  around  the  village, 
I  foimd  everywhere  an  air  of  quiet  content 
ment.  It  was  situated  in  a  sheltered  place, 
and  the  rays  of  the  spring  sun  were  warm,  so 
most  of  the  Indians  were  out  of  doors  ;  the 
elder  ones  smoking  as  they  basked  in  the  sun, 
the  young  bucks,  divided  into  two  parties, 
enjoying  their  favorite  game  of  foot  ball,  and 


122  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

the  boys  whipping  tops  or  practicing  with  their 
bows  and  arrows.  The  women  were  working 
and  gossiping,  always  at  a  distance  from  the 
men,  and  the  girls  too  small  to  carry  burdens 
were  playing  with  their  rude  dolls  or  acquiring 
knowledge  of  the  needle  with  dried  sinews 
for  thread.  Some  of  the  young  maidens,  I 
noticed,  lingered  a  little  as  they  carried  wood 
and  water,  casting  shy  glances  on  the  young 
athletes  running  after  the  ball.  In  the  distance 
herds  of  ponies  grazed  on  the  prairie,  watched 
by  sentinels  posted  on  high  buttes  to  see  that 
they  did  not  stray  too  far,  and  to  give  timely 
warning  should  an  enemy  approach. 

The  whole  was  a  pleasant  scene  of  primitive 
life.  Here  was  a  community  ruled  by  chiefs 
and  sub-chiefs  who  had  gained  their  positions 
by  their  bravery  in  battle  and  discretion  in 
council,  and  who  maintained  them  partly  by 
their  prowess  and  partly  by  a  certain  acquies 
cence  in  the  wishes  of  the  majority.  If  simple 
contentment  be  the  aim  of  life,  why  should 
they  be  made  ' c  to  sweat  and  groan  under  a 
weary  load?" 

Upon  further  investigation  I  found  that  the 
camp  was  conveniently  located  for  wood  and 
water.  Being  new  it  was  cleanly,  and  the 
white  canvas  contrasted  finely  with  the  fresh 
unbroken  green  sward  of  the  prairie.  For  a 
summer  camj)  it  was  finely  situated.  Their 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

previous  camp,  from  which  they  had  just 
moved,  had  been  very  differently  located  in  a 
secluded  valley,  where  it  was  sheltered  from 
the  biting  winter  wind  by  the  surrounding 
bluffs,  and  with  plenty  of  dry  wood  at  hand 
for  fires,  and  also  green  cotton  wood  limbs, 
whose  succulent  bark  forms  the  only  food  for 
their  ponies  when  deep  snows  cover  the  ground. 

After  looking  about  the  village  for  some 
time  we  proceeded  to  the  council  lodge, 
which  had  floating  from  its  peak  an  empty 
flour  sack.  Upon  inquiry  I  found  that  this 
was  intended  for  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and 
was  referred  to  as  such  by  the  speakers  in  the 
talk  which  followed.  Upon  entering  the  lodge 
we  found  the  chiefs  and  warriors  awaiting  us. 
The  most  noted  of  them  were  Spotted  Tail, 
Two  Strike  and  Red  Leaf  of  the  Brules,  and 
Black  Bear,  Whistler  and  Pawnee  Killer  of 
the  Ogallalas. 

They  had  made  a  little  more  than  the  usual 
feast,  and  in  my  honor  had  killed  the  fatted 
calf  and  prepared  a  dainty  dish  much  relished 
by  themselves.  One  of  their  customs  requires 
that  a  guest  must  eat  of  each  dish  that  is  set 
before  him,  and  the  entire  amount  to  which  he 
is  helped,  otherwise  an  implied  slight  is  cast 
upon  the  repast,  and  a  present  must  be  given 
to  the  host.  The  morning  ride  in  the  bracing 
air  had  fortunately  fortified  me  with  a  good 


124  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

appetite  and  keen  relish  for  almost  anything 
in  the  shape  of  wholesome  food.  The  coffee 
was  served,  and  a  big  kettle  brought  in  and 
placed  where  all  could  see  when  its  savory 
contents  should  be  disclosed.  This  interesting 
moment  had  arrived,  and  one  of  the  warriors, 
using  a  stout  stick  for  a  fork,  ran  it  into  the 
steaming  kettle  and  drew  forth — a  good-sized 
dog  !  It  had  been  denuded  of  its  hair,  and 
parts  of  its  legs  were  gone,  but  that  there 
should  be  no  doubt  about  it,  as  is  the  custom 
with  our  fine  cooks  when  placing  before  us 
some  rare  bird  or  fish,  the  head  and  tail  were 
left  on  the  body  entire. 

I  took  my  share  and  with  many  misgivings 
tried  to  eat  some  of  it.  It  really  tasted  about 
the  same  as  young  pig,  but  to  me  "  the  scent  of 
the  roses  clung  to  it  still,"  and  I  willingly  paid 
the  forfeit  which  some  of  the  warriors  soon 
claimed.  The  Indians  a]l  partook  with  the 
utmost  gusto  and  relish.  The  talk  which  fol 
lowed  did  not  elicit  much  that  was  new. 
While  they  were  satisfied  with  the  last  dis 
tribution  of  annuity  goods,  they  still  indicated 
their  uneasiness  for  want  of  assurances,  which 
I  could  not  give,  that  they  would  remain  un 
disturbed  in  their  present  possessions.  They 
still  desired  to  hunt  buffalo,  and  did  not  con 
sider  that  they  were  sufficiently  revenged  upon 
the  Pawnees. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  125 

Though  Spotted  Tail  brought  these  matters 
in  review,  he  announced,  in  the  presence  of  all, 
his  intention  to  remain  at  peace,  and  to  urge 
his  young  men  to  do  the  same. 

Two  Strike,  an  active  leader  among  the 
warriors,  intimated  that  as  every  effort  had 
been  made  to  gain  permission  to  hunt  in  the 
Republican  River  country,  and  without  suc 
cess,  it  was  possible  they  might  go  without  it. 
He  again  referred  to  the  killing  of  their  friends 
there,  and  spoke  in  no  very  complimentary 
terms  of  the  Pawnee  Scouts  and  of  the  Govern 
ment  which  employed  them. 

The  other  chiefs  contented  themselves  with 
applauding  such  parts  of  Spotted  Tail's  and 
Two  Strike's  remarks  as  coincided  with  their 
views.  The  council  over,  I  was  invited  to  visit 
the  tepees  of  the  other  chiefs. 

Upon  entering  each  one,  some  food  was 
offered,  but,  after  the  dog  feast,  I  constantly 
made,  myself  liable  to  the  customary  penalty 
-for  not  eating  what  was  set  before  me. 

These  visits  over,  and  after  the  usual  hand 
shakings  and  "hows,"  I  remounted  and  with 
my  interpreter  rode  briskly  back  to  the  agency. 
I  enjoyed  the  visit,  affording,  as  it  did,  the 
opportunity  to  see  the  Indians  at  home  and 
undisturbed  by  the  presence  of  white  men, 
whose  customs  and  manners  are  so  widely  at 
variance  with  their  own, 


126  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

WINTEK  —  HOW      PASSED YOUNG      INDIANS      DREAMING      OF 

SCALPS     AND     STEALING    HORSES NO     TASTE    FOR     FARM 
ING. 

THE  winter  had  been  spent  in  listening  to  the 
complaints  of  the  Indians  upon  nearly 
every  subject  connected  with  their  manner  of 
life;  in  looking  after  the  stores  for  issue,  Capt. 
Woodson,  Acting  Commissary,  having  been  re 
lieved  and  sent  to  other  fields  of  duty;  in  hear 
ing  complaints  of  white  men  who  came  to  the 
agency  from  the  white  settlements  in  Nebraska, 
looking  for  stolen  horses,  as  they  said,  but  who 
had  all  the  appearance  of  a  class  who  are  not 
averse  to  taking  a  hand  at  stealing  an  unpro 
tected  horse  themselves;  in  hearing  recitals  of 
depredations  by  Indians  against  white  men, 
and  of  white  men  against  Indians,  and  en 
deavoring  to  adjust  their  differences ;  called 
upon  frequently  to  attend  a  night  council  in  an 
unfrequented  lodge,  gotten  up  by  some  schem 
ing  warrior  who  had  an  enterprise  on  foot, 
which,  should  he  succeed  in  having  it  carried 


AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  127 

out,  might  add  to  his  importance  when  brought 
before  the  general  public. 

The  northern  spring  was  welcomed  with  more 
than  usual  delight,  affording,  as  it  did,  an  op 
portunity  to  escape  indoor  work,  and  to  visit 
the-  fields,  which,  theoretically,  were  to  bud 
and  blossom  under  the  cultivation  of  the  In 
dians.  The  interest  taken  in  agriculture  by  the 
chiefs  was,  as  heretofore  explained,  a  minus 
quantity,  but  then  others,  not  holding  exalted 
positions,  might  be  induced  to  go  into  the  fields 
if  a  proper  example  were  shown  them,  and  com 
mence  the  long  road  marked  out  for  their  ad 
vancement. 

Great  efforts  were  made,  with  the  limited  ap 
pliances  at  hand,  to  rebuild  the  fence  destroyed 
by  the  squaws  in  the  winter.  All  the  work  oxen 
that  had  not  been  maliciously  killed  were  yoked 
to  ploughs  to  break  up  new  ground;  horses 
were  harnessed  to  cross  ploughs,  and  the  old 
fields  prepared  for  seeding  and  planting.  This 
preparatory  work  was  attended  to  with  interest 
and  alacrity  by  the  employes.  The  Indians 
were  invited  to  watch  the  work  as  it  progressed, 
and  to  go  with  me  while  I  held  a  plough  or  drove 
a  team;  but  the  force  of  example  was  still  a 
failure.  The  squaws  again  came  to  the  rescue, 
and  when  the  time  came  worked  diligently  in 
their  rude  way,  while  the  men  smoked  and 
dreamed,  and  some  lamented  that  they  were 


128  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

too  old  to  change  their  ways  for  those  of  white 
nien.  Instead  of  the  brown,  dried  grass  or  the 
black  surface  of  the  burnt  prairie,  fresh 
green  covered  bluffs  and  buttes  and  val 
leys,  and  the  young  bucks,  who  dreamed  of 
glory  and  renown  and  future  chieftainships, 
were  stirred  to  action  as  usual  at  this  time  of 
year.  There  were  horses  to  be  stolen  and  scalps 
to  be  taken,  and  they  knew  where  to  find  them. 
Mounted  on  their  ponies,  completely  armed 
and  with  a  small  amount  of  provision  tied  to 
their  saddles,  leading  their  best  war  horses  to 
be  mounted  only  at  the  critical  moment,  they 
were  prepared  for  any  journey.  Some  secluded 
valley,  with  its  running  brook  and  willow- 
covered  banks,  would  afford  them  shelter  and 
rich  pasturage  for  their  hardy  animals  after  a 
day  or  night  of  travel.  Should  success  crown 
their  efforts  they  were  sure  of  a  welcome  when 
they  returned;  their  names  and  their  deeds 
would  be  remembered  in  the  songs  of  the 
women;  they  could  shout  their  exploits  in  the 
scalp  dance,  and  wear  their  new-made  honors 
in  council. 

To  settle  down  and  quietly  cultivate  the  soil 
was  farthest  from  their  thoughts. 

In  the  midst  of  the  spring  work  word  came  to 
me  one  day  that  Spotted  Tail  and  two  hundred 
warriors  were  on  their  way  to  the  Pawnee 
reservation,  in  Nebraska.  At  the  same  time  it 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  129 

was  stated  that  he  was  led  to  this  by  the  refusal 
of  his  young  men  to  take  his  advice  and  remain 
at  home;  as  he  could  not  stop  them,  he  would 
lead  them  to  see  that  they  did  not  molest  white 
men. 

The  chief  had  been  at  the  agency  on  the  same 
day  on  which  the  information  was  given  as  to 
his  contemplated  movement,  but  had  not,  ac 
cording  to  custom,  called  upon  me,  and  had 
taken  his  departure  very  suddenly  for  the  pur 
pose  stated. 

Ponca  Creek  takes  its  rise  in  a  northwesterly 
direction,  and  in  its  course  south  runs  some 
twenty-five  miles  back  from  the  agency,  parallel 
to  the  Missouri;  then,  tending  towards  the 
southeast,  joins  the  Mobrara  River.  It  is  a 
beautiful,  clear,  pebbly -bottomed  stream,  with 
a  sparse  growth  of  wood  here  and  there  upon 
its  banks.  An  Indian  trail  had  long  run  near 
its  course,  made  by  the  hostile  Sioux  on  their 
raids  toward  the  south,  and  my  informant  indi 
cated  a  point  on  the  creek  where  Spotted  Tail 
and  his  people  would  camp  for  the  night. 
After  having  notified  the  Superintendent  of 
Indian  Affairs  of  the  supposed  movement  of 
the  Indians,  I  started  with  a  half-breed  inter 
preter  for  the  place,  a  ride  of  about  thirty 
miles,  homing  to  meet  Spotted  Tail,  if  he  were 
really  on  the  war  path,  and  to  persuade  him 
and  his  followers  to  return. 


130  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

On  arriving  at  Ponca  Creek,  much,  to  our  sur 
prise  we  found  no  signs  of  the  war  party. 
Shortly  after  we  were  joined  by  two  Indians 
from  Spotted  Tail's  camp,  but  the  interpreter 
could  gain  no  information  from  them.  They 
did  not  appear  to  enjoy  our  company,  but  evi 
dently  had  no  intention  of  leaving  us.  I  had 
brought  a  small  lunch  to  share  with  my  inter 
preter.  Our  new-found  guests  came  in  for  a 
very  large  half,  so  the  original  party  did  not 
suffer  from  indigestion. 

Near  sun-down  a  furious  rain  storm  set  in, 
and  the  night  becoming  so  dark  that  we  could 
not  retrace  our  trail  to  the  agency,  we  had  to 
resort  to  a  "wick-i-up,"  made  with  wdllow 
sticks  and  our  saddle  blankets.  Our  new 
friends  were  not  backward,  and  crawled  in  with 
us.  I  have  passed  more  comfortable  nights 
than  the  one  watching  war  parties  on  the  banks 
of  Ponca  Creek. 

I  found  out  afterward  that  our  uninvited 
guests  were  watching  my  movements. 

The  next  morning  I  returned,  with  my  inter 
preter,  cold  and  hungry,  to  the  agency,  to  learn 
that  Spotted  Tail  was  in  his  camp.  Some  of 
his  young  men  had  gone  south  in  spite  of  his 
remonstrances,  but  my  expedition  was  entirely 
too  late. 

The  following  letter,  received  in  consequence 
of  their  running  forays,  shows  by  implication 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  131 

that  the  agent  was  held  responsible  for  the  con 
duct  of  the  Indians  under  his  charge  and  sup 
posed  to  be  under  his  control.  The  good  man 
who  wrote  it  evidently  had  implicit  faith  that 
the  Pawnees  did  not  go  upon  the  war  path,  and 
thought  that  their  scouts  after  stray  camps  of 
Sioux,  hunting  buff alo  on  the  Republican,  were 
not  a  cause  of  irritation  to  the  former.  The 
Pawnee  scouts,  it  is  true,  were  lighting  under 
the  United  States  flag  and  by  order  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  but  the  Sioux  could  not  understand 
this  distinction,  and  considered  the  assault  as 
coming  from  their  hereditary  enemies,  and  to 
be  revenged  accordingly: 

PAWNEE  AGENCY, 

GENOA,  NEBKASKA. 
To  the  Agent  at  Whetstone  Agency. 

MY  FKTEND  :  I  write  to  inform  you  that  a 
party  of  Indians,  supposed  to  belong  to  your 
agency,  and  variously  estimated  from  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred,  made  a  raid 
upon  the  Pawnees  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
6th  instant,  killing  three  Indian  women.  They 
were  pursued  by  the  Pawnees  and  United  States 
soldiers,  under  Captain  Egan,  and  one  of  their 
number  killed.  These  raids  are  quite  frequent, 
and  always  made  up  in  part  with  Indians  of 
your  agency.  I  was  informed  by  a  white  man, 
who  says  he  was  at  your  agency  about  the  time 
the  last  raiders  previous  to  these  returned,  that 


132  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

the  particulars  of  the  raid  were  generally  known 
there.  I  then  wrote  to  the  agent  in  regard  to 
it,  but  never  received  an  answer. 

I  use  every  effort  in  my  power  to  prevent 
the  Pawnees  from  making  raids  upon  other 
agencies,  and  when  they  have  I  require  them 
to  return  the  ponies  stolen.  No  complaint 
has  been  made  to  me  of  any  Indians  being 
killed  by  the  Pawnees  except  in  resisting  these 
raids,  whilst  nine  Indians  have  been  killed  by 
the  Sioux  since  I  took  charge  of  them  on  the 
1st  of  6th  mo.,  1869. 

Very  respectfully, 


Indian  Agent. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA.  133 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

RUMORS     OP     DISCONTENT     AMONG     SIOUX     INDIANS SPOTTED 

TAIL     AND     OTHERS      INVITED      TO      WASHINGTON      BY      THE 
PRESIDENT. 

AS  the  season  advanced,  increasing  rumors  of 
hostilities  prevailed  throughout  the  Sioux 
country,  and  various  communications  were  re 
ceived  upon  the  subject.  One,  from  the  con 
sulate  at  Winnipeg,  in  a  British  province,  stated 
that  five  hundred  well-armed  and  clothed  war 
riors  had  started  thence  on  the  war  path  for  the 
Missouri  River.  Others  from  Fort  Buford,  in 
the  northwest,  gave  warning  that  signal  fires 
had  been  lighted  on  the  prairies,  and  that  a 
council  was  to  be  held  in  June  to  unite  the 
hostile  bands  in  an  effort  to  drive  the  whites 
from  the  Missouri  River.  Two  additional  regi 
ments  of  infantry  were  distributed  at  various 
military  stations  and  Indian  agencies  on  the 
river.  At  Whetstone  there  was  no  apparent 
change  in  the  disposition  of  the  Indians  other 
than  a  general  uneasiness  for  reasons  that  have 
been  stated.  I  was  called  upon  by  the  authori 


134  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

ties  more  frequently  for  reports  as  to  the  future 
designs  of  the  Indians,  so  far  as  they  could  be 
understood,  and  ordered  to  give  timely  warning 
of  any  movements.  I  was  also  told  to  again 
admonish  the  Indians  that  they  must  not  go 
south  towards  Kansas  and  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  and  that  should  they  be  found  there 
they  would  be  driven  back  by  soldiers,  and 
that  hunting  on  the  Republican  would  be  upon 
dangerous  and  forbidden  ground. 

While  engaged  in  carrying  out  these  instruc 
tions,  I  received  an  order  from  the  President  to 
come  without  delay  to  Washington,  bringing 
with  me  Spotted  Tail,  Swift  Bear,  two  principal 
warriors,  and  an  interpreter.  As  this  promised 
a  change,  I  was  prepared  to  obey  the  order  with 
alacrity.  I  was  glad  to  be  relieved  from  the 
disagreeable  duty  of  choosing  the  chiefs  who 
should  be  honored  with  an  opportunity  to  visit 
their  Great  Father,  whose  name  they  had  so 
many  times  used  in  council,  but  I  must  make 
selection  of  the  two  warriors  and  an  interpreter. 
There  were  plenty  of  warriors  to  choose  from, 
all  of  whom  would  be  perfectly  willing  to  be 
recognized  as  ' '  principal, ' '  and  who  would  feel 
aggrieved  were  they  overlooked  in  the  selection. 
There  were  a  number  of  interpreters  also. 

I  first  selected  an  interpreter,  Charles  E. 
Gueru,  a  Frenchman  from  France  (a  term  used 
on  the  river  in  contradistinction  to  a  French- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  135 

man  from  Canada),  who  had  long  been  asso 
ciated  with  the  Sionx,  having  first  come  among 
them  under  the  auspices  of  the  old  North- West 
ern  Fur  Company.  He  was  perfectly  familiar 
with  their  language  and  customs,  and,  having 
married  a  Brule  Sioux  woman,  was  looked 
upon  as  belonging  to  that  band.  With  his  as 
sistance  I  chose  the  warriors,  somewhat  with 
reference  to  their  known  friendship  for  Spotted 
Tail.  Swift  Bear  was  also  a  firm  friend  of  the 
latter. 

I  then  sent  word  to  the  chiefs  and  warriors 
concerned  that  I  wanted  to  see  them,  and,  upon 
their  arrival,  informed  them  for  the  first  time 
of  the  order-  which  I  had  received.  I  was  some 
what  astonished  to  hear  that  they  did  not  care 
to  visit  their  Great  Father  in  Washington,  who, 
as  they  understood,  lived  a  great  way  off,  much 
farther  than  they  cared  to  go;  if  he  wanted  to 
see  them,  he  might  at  least  come  half  way. 
They  remained  steadfast  in  this  decision,  and 
finally  departed  without  giving  their  consent  to 
make  the  visit.  Spotted  Tail,  however,  went 
back  to  his  camp  with  the  understanding  that 
he  should  return  in  a  few  days. 

The  subject  was  allowed  to  rest,  although  it 
was  soon  noised  abroad  that  the  Great  Father 
desired  to  see  some  of  the  principal  chiefs  and 
warriors,  and  I  had  to  listen  to  several  applica 
tions,  made  by  ambitious  braves,  who  thought 


136  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

that  they  were  as  good  representatives  as  the 
ones  already  invited  who  did  not  desire  to  go. 
Fortunately,  there  was  but  one  answer  to  make, 
which  lessened  complications,  and  this  was  that 
the  President  had  sent  for  the  ones  whom  he 
wished  to  see,  and  that  I  could  not  take  any 
one  else  until  he  should  order  me  to  do  so. 

At  the  end  of  three  days  Spotted  Tail  was 
again  at  the  agency,  and  I  had  an  interview  with 
him  by  himself  upon*  the  subject  of  the  visit; 
but  he  was  still  disinclined  to  accept  the  invita 
tion.  His  principal  reason  for  refusing  was, 
that  he  would  probably  see  a  great  many  things 
which  would  be  new  and  strange  to  him,  and 
upon  his  return  his  friends  would  come  to  his 
lodge  and  ask  him  to  tell  what  he  had  seen, 
and  that,  while  he  might  give  a  true  account, 
his  hearers,  after  they  had  listened  a  while, 
would  leave  his  lodge,  one  by  one,  and  say  to 
his  friends,  "  Spotted  Tail  tells  lies  since  he  has 
been  to  the  Great  Father's  country,  and  the 
white  men  that  he  has  seen  have  made  bad 
medicine  for  him,"  and  that  in  the  end  there 
would  be  none  coming  to  his  lodge,  and  he 
would  be  left  alone — meaning  that  he  would 
lose  his  chieftainship. 

I  reminded  him  that  he  had  often  told  me  of 
his  desire  to  help  his  people,  but  now,  when  he 
had  the  opportunity  to  do  so,  he  seemed  disin 
clined  to  make  good  his  assertions,  and  that  he 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  137 

could  go  and  see  the  Great  Father  and  many 
things  new  and  strange  to  him,  but  that  he 
need  not  talk  about  them  on  his  return,  but 
merely  tell  his  friends  what  the  Great  Father 
had  said,  and  that  any  promises  the  Great 
Father  might  make  I  was  sure  would  be  ful 
filled. 

He  was  inclined  to  be  persuaded,  but  wanted 
an  interview  with  Swift  Bear  before  fully  decid 
ing.  The  next  day  he  called,  and  informed 
me  that  he  and  Swift  Bear  had  decided  to  go. 
There  was  no  trouble  about  the  warriors;  they 
would  follow  the  chiefs. 

Before  the  time  appointed  for  our  departure 
Spotted  Tail  brought  in  Two  Strike  from  his 
village,  and  expressed  his  desire  that  the  latter 
should  accompany  the  party,  while  Swift  Bear 
brought  his  friend  and  neighbor,  Fire  Thunder, 
with  a  similar  request. 

While  I  had  no  doubt  but  that  this  addition 
to  the  party  would  be  advantageous,  I  could 
not  comply  for  the  reasons  before  stated;  but 
softened  my  refusal  by  representing  to  the  ap 
plicants  the  necessity  of  some  chiefs  remaining 
at  home  who  would  have  sufficient  authority 
to  govern,  not  only  their  people,  but  those  left 
without  a  chief  by  the  absence  of  Spotted  Tail 
and  Swift  Bear. 

The  warriors  selected  were  Fast  Bear,  a  Brule, 
and  Yellow  Hair,  an  Ogallala.  The  former 


138  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

was  known  as  an  influential  warrior  in  Spotted 
Tail's  camp,  while  Yellow  Hair  had  made  him 
self  conspicuous,  a  short  time  before,  by  an  en 
counter  in  Fire  Thunder's  camp,  in  which  he 
had  killed  his  assailant,  and  had  thus  still  fur 
ther  established  his  reputation  among  the  In 
dians  as  a  great  warrior. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  139 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

CHIEFS    CONSENT    TO   GO PREPARATIONS EN   ROUTE    TO 

YANKTON. 

THE  consent  of  the  chiefs  having  been  gained, 
the  other  arrangements  were  soon  made. 
The  Indians  were  offered  clothing  similar  to 
that  of  white  men,  but  preferred  their  own. 
The  exposure  of  the  copper-colored  skin  of  the 
Sioux  warrior  does  not  seem  out  of  place  in  his 
own  home;  but,  now  that  he  was  to  journey 
to  another  land,  and  among  people  whose  ideas 
of  dress  differed  entirely  from  his  own,  some 
additions  must  be  made  to  his  ordinary  cos 
tume  of  blanket,  leggins,  breech  cloth  and 
moccasins,  in  order  to  make  him  presentable. 
So  shirts  were  provided,  and,  as  the  Indians 
put  them  on  as  flowing  robes,  with  no  part 
tucked  away,  they  made  a  considerable  cover 
ing.  They  did  not  harmonize  with  the  native 
costume,  particularly  while  the  wearers  were 
still  among  their  friends,  but  use  soon  familiar 
ized  the  change.  Some  cover  for  the  head  was 
suggested,  but  that  was  too  much  of  an  innova 
tion  for  the  present. 


140  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

Transportation  by  the  river  was  uncertain,  as 
it  was  early  in  the  season  and  steamboats  had 
not  yet  completed  their  long  trips  up  the  river 
so  as  to  be  returning.  There  was  no  stage,  but 
one  was  improvised  out  of  a  rough  lumber 
wagon. 

On  the  17th  of  May,  the  day  appointed  for 
our  departure,  the  party  presented  themselves, 
each  carrying  a  small  sack  made  of  dressed  hide, 
and  containing  personal  effects,  but  of  what 
particular  kind  I  was  never  able  to  discover. 
We  were  escorted  to  the  bank  of  the  river, 
which  we  were  to  cross,  by  a  large  concourse 
of  Indians,  mostly  women,  prominent  among 
whom  were  the  wives  of  the  travelers.  All  the 
squaws  chanted  farewells  in  their  usual  pierc 
ing  voices,  which  could  be  heard  long  after  we 
had  reached  the  further  bank  of  the  Missouri, 
and  were  on  our  way  across  the  prairie. 

Our  first  halting  place  was  White  Swan, 
directly  opposite  to  Fort  Randall,  and  about 
twenty-three  miles  from  Whetstone  Agency. 
White  Swan  could  boast  of  an  Indian  trader's 
store  and  one  authorized  ranch,  the  latter  being 
the  headquarters  of  the  stage  company  and  the 
end  of  the  route  from  Yankton. 

A  few  tepees  were  scattered  in  the  brush 
near  by,  belonging  to  the  Yankton  Sioux, 
whose  reservation  extended  to  this  point,  al 
though  their  agency  buildings  were  fifteen 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  141 

miles  down  the  river.  The  Indian  families 
located  here  were  of  the  lowest  kind — a  de 
moralized  set  who  hang  around  frontier  garri 
sons. 

Our  host  the  ranchman  furnished  fair  meals, 
but  the  beds  could  not  be  praised,  except  as 
offering  a  rich  field  of  inquiry  to  an  entomolo 
gist.  This  dismal  halting  place  was  gladly  left 
behind  at  break  of  day.  We  had  fifteen  miles 
to  ride  before  breakfast  at  Yankton  Agency, 
and,  if  fresh  morning  air  and  about  three 
hours  of  shaking  up  would  give  an  appetite, 
we  certainly  should  have  one.  The  actual  ex 
periment  proved,  on  arrival,  that  we  did  possess 
the  real  article,  which  was  appeased  at  the 
agency  ranch  by  food  of  the  kind  known  as 
plain  and  substantial. 

The  Yankton  Indians  called  upon  Spotted 
Tail  and  others  of  our  party,  holding  neces 
sarily  a  short  interview,  as  we  had  sixty  miles 
more  to  make  that  day  before  reaching  Yank- 
ton.  The  principal  chief  of  the  Yankton 
Sioux,  Strike-the-Ree,  had  many  things  to  say, 
and  various  messages  to  send  by  Spotted  Tail 
to  his  Great  Father.  He  also  loaned  a  pipe  to 
be  used  in  the  council  at  Washington.  His 
interview  was  only  terminated  by  our  depart 
ure. 

Our  next  stop  was  at  Bon  Homme,  where  we 
had  the  ranchman's  square  meal.  Thence  on 


142  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

to  Yank  ton,  arriving  at  the  latter  point  late  in 
the  evening.  Thus  far  the  Indians  had  seen 
nothing  particularly  new;  the  same  stretches 
of  prairie,  dotted  here  and  there  with  buttes, 
and  crossed  by  running  streams  on  their  course 
to  the  Missouri.  They  had  never  been  over 
the  road,  but  showed  their  knowledge  of  prairie 
craft  by  indicating,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  the  location  of  streams  and  woodland 
and  the  general  contour  of  the  land,  and  hav 
ing  an  almost  intuitive  knowledge  of  camping 
ground. 

Yankton  was  the  largest  town  ever  seen  by 
any  of  them  except  Spotted  Tail,  who  had 
some  years  before  been  confined  as  a  prisoner 
of  war  at  Fort  Leaven  worth. 

At  Yankton  they  were  for  the  first  time  sur 
rounded  by  a  plurality  of  white  men,  turning 
the  tables  on  their  life-long  associations.  Here 
were  presented  to  their  view  the  works  of  men, 
which,  by  their  extent  and  grandeur  as  com 
pared  to  their  own,  were  to  be  a  constant 
source  of  increasing  wonder  as  they  continued 
their  journey  eastward. 

Although  it  was  late  in  the  evening  when  we 
arrived  at  Yankton,  we  were  subjected  to  our 
first  interview.  The  show  had  commenced. 
The  official  dignitaries  must,  of  course,  see  the 
Indians,  together  with  the  sovereigns  —  the 
people  generally.  The  Indians  shook  hands 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  143 

and  said  "how,"  but  gradually  put  on  their 
most  approved  stoical  looks  and  undemonstra 
tive  manner.  During  the  day  they  had  been 
talking  and  laughing  and  observing  everything, 
but  now  they  went  into  their  shells  and  staid 
there,  and  were  not  to  be  drawn  out  by  any  re 
marks  of  the  visitors,  some  of  which  were  com 
plimentary,  some  pitying,  and  some  savage. 

The  last  questions  were  asked  and  the  last 
suggestions  made  after  midnight,  when  the 
party  were  allowed  to  retire. 


144  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

EFFECTS    OF    SHORT    ASSOCIATIONS    AMONG     WHITES ARRIVAL 

AT  SIOUX  CITY INTERVIEW  — PALACE  CAR IN  CHICAGO. 

A  SHOUT  association  with  white  men  had 
produced  one  visible  effect  upon  the  trav 
elers,  for  on  their  appearance  next  morning 
they  asked  for  an  addition  to  their  dress,  in  the 
shape  of  hats.  These  were  procured,  of  the 
soft  felt  kind  usually  worn  in  the  West,  the 
stove  pipe  hat  of  the  East  not  having  penetrated 
to  Yankton. 

The  party  had  still  sixty-five  miles  to  travel 
by  stage  before  reaching  Sioux  City  and  the 
railroad.  While  the  stage  company  was  per 
fectly  willing  to  accept  our  six  fares,  they 
would  not  guarantee  seats,  but  proposed  merely 
the  same  privileges  that  they  offered  to  the 
general  public,  namely,  to  get  a  seat  anywhere 
on  the  conveyance,  inside  or  out,  or  to  walk  or 
run  while  holding  on  behind.  The  honored 
chiefs  and  warriors  of  an  aboriginal  State  could 
not  be  subjected  to  such  vicissitudes,  while  the 
guests  of  an  enlightened  nation;  therefore  pri- 


AMONG   THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  145 

vate  conveyances  were  obtained,  and  we  were 
soon  on  our  way  to  a  land  where  stages  were 
fast  going  out  of  fashion. 

A  short  ride  and  we  crossed  the  James  River 
(commonly  called  "  the  Jim"),  which  courses 
north  and  south  nearly  the  whole  length  of 
Dakota,  and  upon  whose  banks  many  camps 
have  been  made  by  those  cousins  of  the  Brules 
and  Ogallalas  who  live  east  of  the  Missouri; 
then  we  passed  through  the  Indian -named 
towns,  Vermillion  and  Elk  Point,  and  finally, 
after  a  tiresome  ride,  crossed  the  Big  Sioux 
River,  into  which,  only  four  or  five  years  be 
fore,  many  a  Yank  ton  Sioux  had  ridden  his 
pony  to  drink,  while  hunting  buffalo  a  short 
distance  above,  and  had  camped  upon  its  banks 
while  his  wives  prepared  his  robes  for  use. 
Now  the  white  man  occupied  the  land,  and  the 
busy  hum  of  industry  had  driven  the  buffalo 
to  the  more  quiet  prairies  north  and  west. 

The  pipe  stone  quarries,  where  material  for 
the  red  stone  pipe  is  found  in  abundance,  are 
near  the  banks  of  this  stream,  a  hundred  miles 
or  so  north  from  where  we  crossed.  This  pipe 
is  extensively  used  by  the  Indians  of  the  plains. 
It  is  said  that  the  quarry  was  neutral  to  all  the 
different  tribes,  but  it  is  probably  nearer  the 
truth  that  the  Indians  of  Minnesota  and  East 
ern  Dakota  had  a  monopoly  of  the  quarry,  and 
bartered  the  pipes  made  from  the  red  soft 


146  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

stone  with  those  with  whom  they  came  in  con 
tact. 

The  Sioux  have  both  traded  and  fought  with 
their  neighbors  from  time  out  of  mind,  being 
like  white  men  in  this  respect. 

Crossing  the  Big  Sioux,  we  drive  into  Sioux 
City.  Here  we  pass  a  night  at  the  St.  Elmo, 
with  about  the  same  experience  as  at  Yankton, 
and  next  morning  take  passage  on  the  cars 
drawn  by  the  Indian's  "fire  horse."  Spotted 
Tail  and  Swift  Bear  had,  a  few  years  before, 
been  honored  by  short  rides  on  the  Union  Pa 
cific  road  at  North  Platte  Station;  but  the  war 
riors,  Fast  Bear  and  Yellow  Hair,  had  never 
traveled  faster  than  a  pony' s  gallop.  The  last 
two  looked  about  them  with  some  curiosity, 
but  the  general  observer  would  not  have  dis 
covered  any  unusual  excitement.  Jhe  visiting 
party  had,  from  the  time  of  starting,  a  thorough 
appreciation  of  the  dignity  of  deportment  re 
quired  by  their  position  as  representative  men 
and  Indians. 

We  had  to  make  more  southing  from  Sioux 
City,  until,  at  Missouri  Valley  Junction,  we 
struck  at  a  right  angle  the  Northwestern  Rail 
road. 

Here  the  Indians  were  introduced  to  that 
modern  luxury  of  travel,  a  sleeping  car,  and 
had  a  state  room  to  themselves,  the  privacy  of 
which  they  thoroughly  enjoyed,  as  in  their 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  147 

short  ride  from  Sioux  City  they  had  been  sub 
jected  to  much  annoyance  from  inquisitive  pas 
sengers.  Many  of  these  being  Western  men, 
and  in  their  own  opinion  familiar  with  Indians, 
tried  to  engage  them  in  conversation,  but  al 
ways  signally  failed.  An  Indian's  stolidity 
would  take  the  pith  out  of  the  most  inveterate 
questioner.  Failing  to  obtain  the  least  reply 
from  the  Indians,  they  next  turned  upon  the 
interpreter,  who,  with  the  imperturbable  good 
nature  of  a  Frenchman,  repeated  the  same 
story  as  many  times  as  it  could  possibly  be 
told  in  the  five  hours'  run  to  Missouri  Valley 
Junction. 

The  presence  of  the  Indians  aroused  the  ire 
of  the  hardy  frontiersman,  as  it  did  the  cu 
riosity  of  other  passengers.  He  was,  perhaps, 
still  stinging  under  losses  at  the  hands  of  In 
dians,  and  gave  his  opinion  of  how  they  should 
be  treated;  usually  in  the  direction  of  the 
speediest  extermination.  He  would  hang  them, 
shoot  them,  burn  them,  or  anything  else  to 
eliminate  them,  closing  these  gentle  sugges 
tions  with  a  few  oaths  and  a  glare  upon  those 
present,  as  much  as  to  say  he  was  looking  for 
the  man  who  differed  from  him. 

In  the  state  room  of  the  sleeping  car  the  In 
dians  escaped  these  annoyances,  and  passed  the 
time  in  their  usual  way — chatting,  story  telling, 
and  observing  what  was  going  on  around  them. 


148  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

After  eighteen  hours  on  the  Northwestern 
road,  we  arrived  in  Chicago,  and  were  well 
cared  for  at  the  old  Tremont;  the  prince  of 
hotels  before  the  great  fire  of  1871.  Here  the 
Indians,  for  the  first  time,  came  in  contact  with 
the  results  of  metropolitan  tastes,  most  of  which 
are  well  represented  in  a  modern  hotel;  spacious 
halls,  reception  and  dining  rooms,  pier  glasses 
which  magnified  in  number  the  costly  embel 
lishments,  and  a  table  furnished  to  repletion 
with  every  dainty,  were  a  surprise  and  comfort 
to  a  white  man  coming  from  the  West 
after  a  long  sojourn  on  the  frontier.  What 
would  it  be  to  Indians  who  had  never  even  im 
agined  anything  of  the  kind  ?  So  far  as  any 
outward  manifestation  could  be  an  indication, 
they  produced  no  effect  whatever.  These 
savages  entered  the  spacious  dining  hall  for 
the  first  time,  with  the  same  composure  that 
they  would  a  council  lodge.  Walking  single 
file,  according  to  rank,  they  took  their  seats  at 
the  table  with  all  the  nonchalance  of  the  best- 
bred  white  man  in  the  land.  I  knew  that  the 
table  furniture  was  entirely  new  to  them,  but 
their  quick  eye  and  keen  observation  enabled 
them  to  follow  instantly  the  manners  of  those 
with  whom  they  were  associated.  The  use  of 
the  knife  and  of  the  silver  fork  were  con 
founded  a  little  at  first;  but  then  in  Europe, 
the  fountain  of  our  table  manners,  it  is  an  open 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  149 

question  which  shall  be  used  in  conveying  food 
from  the  plate  to  the  mouth.  The  Sioux  eti 
quette  requires  only  a  knife,  the  fingers  taking 
the  place  of  the  fork.  A  good-sized  piece,  cut 
from  the  roast  or  stew,  is  grasped  at  one  end 
by  the  fingers  and  seized  by  the  teeth  at  the 
other,  while  a  sharp  knife  is  brought  down 
upon  the  morsel,  severing  it  at  a  proper  dis 
tance  from  the  mouth.  This  process  is  repeated 
until  the  remainder  is  of  the  proper  size  for  an 
ordinary  mouthful,  and  requires  more  dexterity 
than  the  proper  use  of  knife  and  fork. 

The  napkin  was  at  first  a  mystery  to  the 
travelers,  but  observation  soon  taught  them  to 
use  it  instead  of  the  back  of  the  hand,  as  was 
their  custom  at  home.  After  a  little  experience 
they  ate  slowly  and  rather  sparingly  of  what 
was  set  before  them,  and  awaited  the  arrival  of 
the  various  courses  with  as  much  ease  and 
composure  as  any  high-bred  individual  who 
takes  no  note  of  time. 

The  table  manners  of  the  Indians  were  a  great 
disappointment  to  the  general  public. 

Whenever  they  entered  a  dining  halL  they 
attracted  the  gaze  of  all  in  the  room,  while  the 
extra  waiters  and  female  attaches  of  the  hotel 
crowded  the  side  doors,  and  gazed  and  gazed, 
much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  (in  this  respect) 
better  bred  Indians.  I  often  heard  the  excla- 
»  mation,  "  Why,  these  Indians  eat  just  like 


150  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

white  people!"  Michael  and  Biddy,  fresh 
from  the  other  side,  expected  them  to  feed  like 
wild  animals. 


AMONG   THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA.  151 


CHAPTEK  XXIV. 

SUMPTUOUS    SURROUNDINGS  — VIEWS    OF    THOSE    REMOTE  FROM 

INDIANS HOW     DEALT     WITH     IN     THE     PAST HOW    THEY 

SHOULD   BE    TREATED    NOW ARRIVAL    IN    WASHINGTON. 

T  EAVINGr  Chicago  we  proceed  on  our  jour- 
Jj  ney  in  the  same  comfortable  manner ;  the 
Indians  occupying  a  state  room  in  the  Pullman 
car.  They  are  fast  becoming  educated  in  their 
tastes,  but  in  any  just  appreciation  of  their 
surroundings  are  children  still.  They  have  no 
conception  of  the  fact  that  each  hour  they  are 
traveling  what  would  be  to  them  an  ordinary 
day's  journey  on  their  ambling  ponies.  It 
never  enters  their  minds  to  make  any  compari 
son  between  their  present  luxurious  surround 
ings  of  polished  wood,  rich  tapestries  and 
gilded  cornices  and  the  rude  interior  of  their 
smoky  tepees. 

To  them  the  horse  is  still  the  perfection 
of  means  of  locomotion,  and  the  tepee  unsur 
passed  as  a  haven  of  rest  and  comfort.  What 
care  they  for  railroads  and  gorgeous  uphol 
stery.  These  contrivances  of  white  men,  so 


152  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

wonderful  in  their  perfection,  arouse  no  more 
than  a  slight  curiosity.  Their  origin  and  the 
means  applied  to  bring  them  to  perfection  are 
no  more  to  these  savages,  than  the  origin  of 
the  eternal  hills,  or  the  running  streams  of  the 
prairie. 

We  are  now  passing  through  States  whose 
inhabitants  have  long  since  forgotten  the  sav 
age  war  whoop  and  bloody  trail  familiar  to 
their  ancestors.  By  the  policy  of  that  day 
and  the  treaties  of  that  time,  the  Indians  had 
been  removed  from  occupation  of  this  land  to 
the  unknown  West,  there,  in  time,  to  harass 
by  their  presence  another  generation  of  fron 
tiers  men,  who,  in  their  turn,  strive  to  drive  the 
red  men  still  farther  west  from  what  has  now 
become  a  neighboring  State.  The  original 
inhabitants  of  these  States,  so  far  as  they  were 
concerned,  solved  the  ever-recurring  Indian 
question  by  having  the  Indian  removed  from 
their  own  immediate  neighborhood,  and  their 
descendants  eventually  forgot  his  existence, 
save  in  history  and  legendry. 

So,  now,  our  visiting  party  are  interviewed 
by  a  more  kindly-disposed  people,  who  begin 
to  talk  entirely  of  the  wrongs  done  to  the 
Indian,  how  he  has  been  cheated  by  the  Gov 
ernment  and  his  agent,  and  robbed  and  killed 
by  the  pioneer,  and  more  than  intimate  that  he 
would  make  a  good  friend  and  neighbor,  if  he 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  153 

had  not  been  cheated  and  driven  away  from  his 
home,  and  could  now  live  there  in  the  moral 
atmosphere  of  the  present.  The  past  has 
always  been  entirely  wrong  in  its  treatment 
of  the  Indian.  Agricultural  implements  and 
seeds  and  morality  are  all  that  are  needed  now 
to  change  the  savage,  held  at  bay  somewhere 
in  the  west,  to  a  peaceful  and  law-abiding  citi 
zen.  A  far-off  view  of  the  original  occupant  of 
the  land  enables  them  to  see  both  sides  of  the 
question,  and  to  realize  that  the  Indian  has 
been  driven  from  boundary  to  boundary  across 
each  State'  until,  now  that  he  can  go  no  farther, 
he  has  turned  back  again  to  shame  past  genera 
tions,  who  were  governed  too  much  by  interest 
and  not  enough  by  the  philanthropic  views  of 
the  present  inhabitants  of  the  land.  Another 
indication  of  the  distance  we  have  traveled  is 
shown  in  the  rural  interviewer,  who  wants  to 
know  if  these  Indians  are  real  "  Si-oxes,"  a 
mistake  in  pronunciation  which  would  not  have 
occurred  farther  west.  We  find,  too,  an  in 
creasing  desire  to  see  real  wild  Indians  from 
the  plains,  who  have  not  lost  the  art  of  killing 
and  scalping.  Did  they  know  that  the  Indians 
each  carry  a  good-sized  revolver  and  sharp 
scalping  knife  in  their  belts,  they  would  be  still 
more  anxious  to  see  them. 

We  finally  reach  Pittsburgh,  where  we  make 
a  short  halt,  and  meet  Hon.  Felix  Bruno,  a 


154  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

philanthropist,  and  member  of  the  Peace  Com 
mission,  who  is  making  an  earnest  effort  to 
ameliorate  the  present  condition  of  the  Indians 
in  the  far  west.  Spotted  Tail  and  the  others 
do  not  take  much  interest  in  Mr.  Bruno's  ex 
pressed  desire  to  improve  their  present  state  of 
affairs.  The  former  has  heard  from  a  great 
many  others  that  he  is  never  to  be  cheated  any 
more. 

At  Harrisburg  we  make  our  easting,  and 
change  our  course  to  the  south  for  Baltimore 
and  Washington,  and  arrive  at  our  jouney's 
end  after  one  week  of  travel.  The  Indians  are 
fifteen  hundred  miles  from  their  homes,  in  a 
city  where  they  are  to  be  impressed  with  the 
dignity  and  power  of  the  country  of  their 
Great  Father,  whom  they  have  come  so  far  to 
interview.  An  unpretentious  hotel,  connected 
with  the  Washington  House,  is  designated  as 
the  resting  place  for  the  delegation,  who  now 
learn,  for  the  first  time,  that  they  are  to  be 
joined  by  some  of  their  brothers  and  neighbors 
under  the  famous  chief  Red  Cloud. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX    OF  DAKOTA.  155 


CHAPTER  XXY. 

VISITORS  AT  THEIE  HOTEL — INVITATIONS  TO  FAIRS  AND  EXHI 
BITIONS THEIR     ISRAELITISH     DESCENT CHEROKEES     AND 

WHITE    BLOOD. 

SPOTTED  TAIL  and  Ms  friends  were  some 
what  worn  with  the  fatigues  of  the  long 
journey,  and  were  given  a  day  of  rest  in  their 
hotel  before  they  paid  any  official  visits.  But 
they  were  not  allowed  much  real  rest  or  quiet, 
and  received  many  calls.  Some  of  their  visitors 
had  been  among  Indians  upon  the  plains,  and 
felt  an  interest  in  all  red  men ;  others  had  a 
slight  knowledge  of  the  Sioux  language,  and 
wanted  to  bring  it  to  a  test  by  an  interview ; 
others  desired  to  make  inquiry  about  a  chief 
or  warrior  whom  they  had  known.  Invitations 
of  every  kind  were  received,  by  which  the  dele 
gation  were  urged  to  visit  some  exhibition,  art 
gallery  or  photographic  establishment.  These 
invitations  were  usually  delivered  in  person, 
and  if  they  were  declined  the  party  tendering 
them  seemed  to  consider  it  equivalent  to  an  im 
plied  intention,  on  the  part  of  those  having 


156  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

the  Indians  in  charge,  to  favor  some  unknown 
rival.  There  were  invitations  to  church  festi 
vals  and  charitable  fairs,  offering  inducements 
to  the  Indians  in  the  way  of  strawberries  and 
fine  floral  displays.  One  such  invitation  spoke 
of  the  display  of  flags  of  all  nations  which 
would  be  made,  and  which,  the  writer  said, 
would  probably  be  very  interesting  to  the 
Indians,  reminding  them  also,  that  the  benevo 
lent  association  to  be  assisted,  was  worthy  the 
support  of  all  good  men. 

When  Spotted  Tail  was  asked  if  he  desired 
to  attend  these  festivities  he  invariably  de 
clined. 

After  a  day  or  so  of  waiting  this  chief 
became  impatient,  and  complained  that  he  had 
not  come  to  Washington  to  be  made  a  show  of, 
'  but  to  see  the  Great  Father,  which  he  wanted 
to  do  and  then  go  home  to  his  people.  Appar 
ently  he  was  not  interested  in  sight  seeing,  or 
fond  of  being  the  center  of  the  public  gaze. 

The  party  refused  to  visit  a  photographer 
and  be  photographed.  Spotted  Tail,  with  all 
his  intelligence,  was  Indian  enough  to  say  that 
he  considered  it  bad  medicine  to  sit  for  a  pic 
ture,  meaning  that  it  would  bring  him  bad 
luck ;  and  whatever  he  said  was  followed  by 
the  others.  A  gentleman  from  the  Smith 
sonian  Institute  labored  long  and  faithfully  to 
obtain  a  plaster  of  Paris  model  of  Spotted 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  157 

'Pail's head.  The  interpreter  endeavored  to  ob 
tain  his  consent  to  submit  to  the  preliminaries, 
and  offered  himself  to  be  experimented  upon 
to  show  the  process.  The  Indians  watched  with 
the  greatest  interest  while  the  interpreter  lay 
prostrate  with  quills  stuck  in  his  nostrils  and 
the  coating  of  plaster  upon  his  face.  They  con 
sidered  the  operation  great  fun,  but  decided 
that  it  was  bad  medicine,  and  no  amount  of 
persuasion  could  change  their  minds. 

A  reverend  gentleman  called  to  pay  his 
respects,  and  being  admitted  to  the  room 
in  which  the  Indians  were  seated,  passed 
from  one  to  another  making  some  remark 
to  each  ;  commenting  on  their  journey  hither, 
hoping  that  they  were  enjoying  themselves 
and  trusting  that  they  wotild  tind  their  visit 
pleasant  and  profitable  in  eveiy  way.  He 
then  took  a  position  in  the  center  of  the  room, 
and  commenced  a  lecture,  opening  by  remark 
ing  that  it  afforded  him  great  pleasure  to  see 
them  and  talk  with  them,  as  he  had  long  held 
the  theory  that  they  were  descendants  of  the 
ancient  Israelites  ;  that  many  of  their  present 
customs  were  similar  to  those  of  the  latter,  and 
he  was  just  going  on  to  explain  the  route  which 
the  Israelites  must  have  taken  to  reach  this  con 
tinent,  when  I  interrupted  the  lecturer  to  in 
form  him  that  the  Indians  did  not  understand 
the  English  language,  and  that  any  remarks  ho 


158  AMONG   THE   SIOUX   OF   DAKOTA. 

had  to  make  would  have  to  be  interpreted. 
This  was  quite  a  surprise  to  the  gentleman,  but 
he  was  introduced  to  the  interpreter,  through 
whom  he  continued  his  discourse,  and  the  lat 
ter  had  to  translate  many  strange  words  into 
the  Sioux  language.  The  chiefs  and  warriors 
made  no  reply  whatever.  To  all  appearance 
they  would  have  been  as  much  interested  in 
the  demonstration  of  a  problem  from  Euclid, 
as  in  the  question  of  their  Jewish  descent. 
Spotted  Tail  was  searching  for  more  supplies 
and  a  new  agency  and  not  after  the  origin  of 
his  ancient  progenitors,  whoever  they  might 
be. 

There  was  no  end  to  their  visitors.  A  dele 
gation  of  Cherokees  from  the  Indian  Territory 
called  and  had  to  enter  into  a  description  of 
themselves  through  the  interpreter,  to  con 
vince  the  Dakota  delegation  that  they  were 
real  Indians.  The  blood  of  the  Cherokees  had 
been  mingled  with  that  of  white  men  until  but 
little  of  the  former  was  left ;  but  they  still 
talked  of  unfulfilled  treaties  with  the  white 
men' s  Government,  so  there  was  this  bond  of 
common  interest  between  them  and  the  Sioux. 


AMONG   THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  159 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 

FIRST  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  COMMISSIONER  —  VISITS  AT 
GENERAL  SHERMAN'S,  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTE  AND  MOUNT 
VERNON. 

SOON  after  their  arrival  the  delegation  were 
invited  to  call  on  the  Commissioner  of  In 
dian  Affairs.  The  ceremonies  were  short.  After 
handshaking  all  around,  the  Indians  seated 
themselves  and  filled  the  pipe  of  peace,  such 
as  desired  taking  a  few  whiffs  as  it  passed 
around.  Spotted  Tail  never  used  tobacco  on 
any  occasion,  either  here  or  at  his  home. 

The  Commissioner  expressed  himself  as  being 
glad  to  see  his  visitors,  commended  the  peace 
ful  relations  existing  between  them  and  the 
Government,  and  said  that  the  President  had 
sent  for  them,  to  see  himself  what  they  wanted 
in  order  to  continue  the  good  will,  and  would 
hold  an  interview  with  them  and  friends  as 
soon  as  Red  Cloud  arrived. 

Spotted  Tail,  as  usual,  was  the  spokesman. 
He  did  not  express  any  particular  amount  of 
happiness  over  the  interview,  but  said  that 


160  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

when  he  was  more  rested  from  his  journey  he 
would  make  known  his  wants.  He  accepted, 
with  some  show  of  pleasure,  an  invitation  for 
the  party  to  visit  General  Sherman  at  his  resi 
dence,  for  both  he  and  Swift  Bear  had  met  the 
General  on  the  plains.  At  evening  the  party 
were  driven  in  carriages  to  the  Genera?  s  house, 
where  they  were  cordially  entertained.  They 
were  much  interested  in  looking  over  his  col 
lection  of  Indian  curiosities  from  all  parts  of 
the  country,  and  of  weapons  and  trinkets  from 
Japan  and  from  the  barbarous  peoples  of  the 
South  Sea  Islands.  Mrs.  Sherman  and  her 
daughters  showed  every  attention  to  their 
blanketed  guests,  and  feasted  them  upon  straw 
berries,  ice  cream  and  cake — articles  too  ethereal 
to  be  much  sought  after  by  the  Indians,  but 
apparently  enjoyed  by  them  on  this  occasion. 

Instructions  had  been  given  me  to  allow  the 
Indians  every  opportunity  to  see  all  objects  of 
interest  which  they  might  desire  to.  As  far  as 
could  be  ascertained,  they  did  not  desire  to  see 
anything,  and  so  I  selected  such  places  as  I 
thought  might  amuse  and  instruct  them. 

The  Smithsonian  Institute  afforded  them  a 
day  of  entertainment  in  looking  over  the  stuffed 
birds  and  animals,  and  the  various  arms  and 
utensils  collected  from  different  parts  of  the 
world.  Any  animal  or  bird  with  which  they 
were  familiar  reminded  them  of  their  prairie 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  161 

home,  and  caused  many  animated  discussions. 
Catlin's  collection  of  portraits  of  Western  In 
dians  made  a  study  for  them.  They  readily 
singled  out  the  members  of  different  tribes, 
many  of  whom  it  would  have  afforded  them 
great  pleasure  to  kill  and  scalp,  could  they 
have  been  found  lurking  about  the  Institute  in 
flesh  and  blood. 

They  visited  the  theater  for  the  first  time, 
and  amid  brilliant  lights  and  the  bright  colors 
of  the  decorator's  art,  and  in  the  presence  of 
the  audience,  were  calm  and  stoical  as  usual. 
The  stormy  passion  of  the  hero  in  the  play,  and 
the  stealthy  tread  of  the  heavily  whiskered, 
rouged  and  armed  villain,  interested  them;  and 
the  subsequent  encounter  between  the  two,  with 
swords  clashing  together  with  such  force  as  to 
bring  sparks  of  fire  from  their  blades,  fixed 
their  attention;  or  when  fire-arms  were  the 
weapons  in  the  deadly  contest,  and  discharged 
at  such  an  elevation  above  the  victim  as  would 
lead  them  to  suppose  that  his  vulnerable  parts 
were  hidden  away  somewhere  in  the  flies,  they 
were  amused  and  astonished  to  see  the  victim 
fall  dead  at  the  discharge;  but  they  were  not 
wrought  up  to  any  degree  of  emotion.  Their 
medicine  men  could  handle  a  long  knife  or  a 
gun  more  dexterously  to  deceive,  and  the  whole 
scenic  effect  fell  far  below  the  wild  pantomime 
of  the  war  dance. 


162  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

They  were  taken  a  pleasant  sail  down  the 
Potomac  as  far  as  Mount  Vernon,  where  they 
passed  part  of  a  day  in  viewing  the  grounds 
and  lounging  under  the  shade  of  the  trees,  en 
joying  an  undisturbed  siesta.  They  saw  the 
tomb  of  the  first  Great  Father,  but  did  not,  as 
was  said  at  the  time,  reach  through  the  grating 
of  the  iron  door  to  shake  hands  with  him  and 
say  "How." 

They  passed  through  the  old  mansion  and 
looked  at  its  mementoes,  and  while  so  doing- 
were  decoyed  into  a  reception  room,  where  the 
good  woman  in  charge  of  the  Mount  Yernon 
estate  took  them  in  hand,  after  a  fashion  similar 
to  their  reverend  friend  interested  in  their  re 
mote  ancestors,  the  Israelites.  She  commenced 
telling  Spotted  Tail  and  Swift  Bear  what  the 
women  of  the  country  were  trying  to  do  in  the 
way  of  purchasing  the  ground  where  rested 
the  mortal  remains  of  the  father  of  his  country, 
and  was  so  much  interested  in  her  subject  that 
it  was  with  difficulty  she  could  be  stopped,  and 
informed,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  that  the  In 
dians  could  not  understand  her  remarks  unless 
they  were  interpreted  into  the  Sioux  language. 
As  the  Indians  were  rather  pleased  with  the 
lady's  attentions,  and  were  seemingly  inter 
ested,  she  was  inclined  to  continue  her  remarks 
in  spite  of  remonstrances  to  the  contrary;  but 
finally  the  interpreter  interposed,  and  gave  the 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OP  DAKOTA.  163 

Indians  an  idea  of  the  great  work  which  the 
women  had  in  hand,  and  of  the  desire  of  this 
lady  that  they  should  become  interested  in  the 
scheme  and  contribute,  but  the  remarks  did 
not  have  the  desired  effect.  The  chieftains  did 
not  order  drafts  upon  their  royal  exchequers, 
nor  drop  coin  from  their  hands,  for  the  reason 
that  they  did  not  possess  one  or  the  other. 
Had  they  been  importuned  at  their  homes, 
they  might  have  contributed  ponies,  buffalo 
robes,  or  bows  and,  arrows,  their  principal  ar 
ticles  of  wealth  and  mediums  of  exchange,  for 
they  are  far  from  miserly  with  their  posses 
sions.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  they  could 
ever  have  been  greatly  interested  in  the  scheme 
to  purchase  Mount  Vernon. 

We  returned  to  the  city  and  visited  the  Bo 
tanical  Garden  and  the  Patent  Office  buildings. 
The  former  place,  with  its  bright  flowers  and 
rich  scent  of  roses,  was  looked  over  unnoticed, 
their  aesthetic  tastes  being  entirely  unculti 
vated.  At  the  latter  place  the  great  collection 
of  all  conceivable  articles  that  in  any  way  enter 
into  the  economy  of  civilization  failed  to  inter 
est  the  guests  of  the  nation. 

They  began  to  manifest  a  dislike  to  the  re 
straints  of  civilization,  and  were  impatient  to 
come  to  an  understanding  with  the  Government 
and  return  to  their  native  prairies. 


1(54  AMONG  THE   8IOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MEETING  OF  SPOTTED    TAIL  AND    RED    CLOUD CALL    AT     THE 

WHITE    HOUSE. 

THE  renowned  Red  Cloud,  Chief  of  the  Ogal- 
lala  Sioux,  with  a  number  of  his  warriors 
and  their  wives,  had  arrived.  There  had  been 
an  intimation  that  this  Chief  would  manifest 
resentment  towards  Spotted  Tail  when  they 
should  meet,  for  the  part  the  latter  had  taken 
in  the  affray  with  the  late  Big  Mouth,  but  there 
was  no  demonstration  of  feeling.  The  Chief  of 
the  Ogallalas  greeted  the  Chief  of  the  Brules  with 
all  the  seeming  cordiality  that  is  usually  shown 
when  friendly  Indians  meet.  They  advanced 
towards  each  other,  shook  hands  with  some 
show  of  warmth,  and  each  said  "  How,"  when 
the  greeting  was  over,  and  they  subsided  into 
pleasant  chit-chat,  as  though  no  long  separa 
tion  had  taken  place.  It  was  understood  by 
Red  Cloud  that  Spotted  Tail  had  sufficiently 
condoned  for  his  act  in  killing  one  of  the  .house 
of  Red  Cloud,  by  making  prompt  payment  of  a 
stipulated  number  of  ponies  to  Blue  Horse,  the 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA.  165 

next  of  kin,  and  whatever  resentment  might 
exist  was  silenced  by  the  fact  that  aboriginal 
law  had  been  vindicated. 

General  Smith  had  brought  Red  Cloud  and 
his  party  from  Fort  Fetterman.  They  were 
provided  for  at  the  same  hotel  with  Spotted 
Tail,  so  they  mingled  together  freely  and  dis 
cussed  their  common  interests,  their  complaints, 
which  were  uppermost  in  their  minds.  After 
the  arrival  of  Red  Cloud,  Spotted  Tail  and  his 
friends  were  accorded  an  interview  with  the 
President,  the  design  being  made  apparent  that 
the  latter  Chief  should  be  recognized  first  and 
given  the  place  of  honor. 

When  Spotted  Tail  and  Swift  Bear  and  their 
warriors  were  informed  that  the  President  de 
sired  to  see  them,  they  exhibited  more  interest 
than  they  had  at  any  other  occurrence.  They 
were  solicitous  about  their  personal  appear 
ance,  and  examined  themselves  critically  in 
their  little  hand  mirrors,  which  the  Indians 
carry  at  all  times  as  an  indispensable  article. 
The  Chiefs  had  passed  beyond  the  age  of  using 
paint  to  any  great  extent,  in  making  their 
toilets,  although  where  the  hair  was  parted  a 
dash  of  red  was  applied.  Any  stray  whiskers, 
that  had  grown  to  sufficient  length  to  be  seized, 
were  pulled  out  with  small  steel  tweezers, 
which  they  have  for  this  purpose.  Their  hair 
was  arranged  as  usual,  with  a  small  braided 


166  AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  UA.KOTA. 

scalp  lock  gathered  up  from  the  crown  of  the 
head,  to  which  an  eagle  feather  is  attached, 
while  a  side  lock,  bound  with  strips  of  otter 
skin,  is  trained  to  hang  forward  on  the  shoul 
der.  This  was  all  readjusted,  and  the  toilets 
of  the  two  Chiefs  were  completed.  The  war 
riors  made  similar  preparations,  but  added  a 
modest  allowance  of  color  to  their  faces. 

The  party  arrived  at  the  White  House  in  car 
riages,  and  were  immediately  granted  a  private 
audience  by  the  President.  The  Secretary  of 
War  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  were 
present  at  first,  but  did  not  remain  long.  After 
the  usual  handshaking,  the  Indians  were 
shown  seats,  and  the  President  talked  to  them 
in  a  plain,  direct  way,  that  engrossed  their 
attention  from  the  commencement.  He  assured 
them  of  his  intention  to  do  all  in  his  power  to 
provide  for  them  under  their  treaty,  and  ex 
plained  to  them  that  he  was  dependent  upon 
Congress  to  furnish  the  money  to  be  expended 
for  them,  but  hoped  that  sufficient  would  be 
given  to  meet  their  wants.  He  reminded  them 
of  what  was  expected  on  their  part,  that  they 
must  remain  at  peace,  and  if  they  themselves 
could  not  learn  to  cultivate  the  soil  and  become 
self  supporting,  that  they  must  bring  up  their 
children  to  do  so. 

The  Indians  signified  their  assent  to  this 
talk  from  their  Great  Father  with  many 


AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF   DAKOTA.  167 

uHows."  President  Grant's  manner  of  ex 
pressing  himself  produced  a  lasting  impression 
upon  them,  and  they  undoubtedly  remember 
the  interview  to  this  day. 

Both  Spotted  Tail  and  Swift  Bear  were  a 
little  embarrassed,  the  only  time  I  ever  saw 
them  so  in  the  least  degree.  The  latter  com 
menced  to  fill  the  pipe  furnished  by  Strike-the- 
Ree  for  this  occasion,  but  Spotted  Tail  said 
something  to  him  which  made  him  stop,  and  it 
was  not  used.  Spotted  Tail,  being  called  upon, 
made  a  very  fair  statement  of  his  case.  He  was 
in  the  presence  of  the  Great  Father,  where  he 
had  never  been  before,  and  as  he  undoubtedly 
had  the  interest  of  his  people  at  heart,  he  was 
fully  imbued  with  the  importance  of  his  task, 
and  very  desirous  to  make  the  best  of  his 
opportunity  ;  so  lost  much  of  his  usual  self- 
contained  manner. 

He  reminded  the  President  of  some  of  the 
provisions  of  the  treaty  made  with  them,  and 
among  other  things,  desired  to  have  his  agency 
at  some  other  point  than  Whetstone.  He 
wanted  it  away  from  the  Missouri  River,  where 
he  said  there  was  too  much  whiskey.  By  going 
back  from  the  river,  he  would  be  where  bad 
white  men  could  not  trade  with  his  people,  and 
demoralize  them  with  intoxicating  drink.  He 
made  no  allusion  to  himself,  but  talked  of 
his  people  and  their  wants,  and  was  a  most 


168  AMONG  THE   SiOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

faithful  advocate.  The  President  promised 
Spotted  Tail  that  he  should  have  an  agency 
anywhere  he  wanted  it,  within  the  Sioux  re 
servation. 

The  ladies  of  the  White  House  were  present, 
and  were  interested  spectators.  The  President 
gave  Spotted  Tail  a  handsome  meerschaum 
pipe,  with  his  monogram  carved  upon  it,  while 
the  ladies  presented  tobacco  and  a  silver  match 
box.  The  Indians  were  very  much  pleased  with 
the  interview  and  its  results. 

From  the  White  House  they  went  to  the 
Treasury  building,  and  were  conducted  through 
its  various  departments.  They  were  shown  vast 
sums  of  money  stowed  away  in  vaults,  and 
taken  in  an  elevator  to  the  top  of  the  building 
to  see  the  process  of  printing  bank  bills,  and 
the  working  of  the  hydraulic  press  of  many 
tons  power.  Thence  through  General  Spin 
ner's  Department,  where  they  watched  with  in 
terest  the  fair  women  counting  and  sorting 
various  denominations  of  bank  bills  and  frac 
tional  currency. 

After  their  return  to  the  hotel  the  party  were 
quite  talkative,  and  dilated  upon  the  experi 
ences  of  the  day.  Spotted  Tail  was  very  much 
impressed  with  his  interview  with  President 
Grant,  but  he  and  Swift  Bear  could  not  under 
stand  how  the  President  was  waiting  to  receive 
money  from  Congress,  as  he  had  said,  when 


AMONG  THE  STOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  169 

they  had  just  seen  a  large  building  full  of  it, 
which  belonged  to  him. 

The  financial  problem  was  explained  to  them 
by  the  interpreter,  but  they  still  expressed 
their  inability  to  comprehend  it.  Their  day' s 
visit  had  suggested  another  thought.  Spotted 
Tail  wanted  to  know,  for  the  benefit  of  himself 
and  party,  how  it  was  that  the  President  had 
but  one  wife,  as  he  had  been  informed,  when 
they  had  seen  so  many  handsome  women  to 
choose  from  in  the  Treasury.  The  interpreter 
had  to  again  come  to  the  rescue  and  explain 
that  the  white  man's  laws  allowed  only  one 
wife  at  a  time,  and  that  even  if  he  were  Presi 
dent,  he  could  not  increase  the  number. 

The  Chiefs  and  warriors  thought  their  cus 
toms  in  this  respect  were  better. 

The  day  had  been  satisfactory  in  its  results, 
and  now  that  their  object  was  accomplished, 
the  Indians  wanted  to  know  when  they  could 
go  back  to  their  homes, 


170  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA, 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

CALL  ON    SECRETARY    OF    THE    INTERIOR  —  VISIT    THE    CAPITOL 
WHEN    HOUSE    IS    IN    SESSION. 


addition  of  the  Red  Cloud  party  in- 
L  creased  the  number  of  Indians  by  twenty, 
so  that  the  upper  part  of  the  old  Beverly 
House  was  well  filled  with  nomads.  The  walk 
in  front  of  the  hotel  was  thronged  with  specta 
tors  who  wished  to  see  wild  Indians,  and  it 
often  required  the  assistance  of  the  police  to 
clear  a  passage  to  the  carriages,  when  they 
went  out  for  an  official  visit  or  on  a  sight-see 
ing  expedition. 

The  two  delegations  were  invited  to  call 
upon  the  Commissioner,  where  they  would 
see  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  The  increase 
in  the  number  of  Indians,  and  the  growing  in 
terest  in  them,  augmented  the  spectators  wher 
ever  they  went,  and  on  this  occasion  the  dele 
gations  had  much  difficulty  in  passing  through 
the  packed  hallways  of  the  Interior  building, 
the  chiefs  being  somewhat  ruffled  by  the  jost 
ling  of  the  crowd. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  171 

After  entering  the  room  the  Indians  were 
seated,  and  the  Commissioner  introduced  the 
Secretary.  The  Secretary  addressed  the  circle 
of  Indians  as  follows  : 

u  When  we  heard  that  the  Chiefs  of  the 
Sioux  nation  wanted  to  come  to  Washington 
to  see  the  President,  and  the  officers  of  the 
Government,  we  were  glad.  We  were  glad 
that  they  themselves  said  they  wanted  to  come. 
We  know  that  when  people  are  so  far  apart  as 
we  are  from  the  Sioux,  it  is  very  hard  to  see 
each  other  and  to  know  what  each  one  wants. 
But  when  we  see  each  other  face  to  face,  we 
can  understand  better  what  is  really  right,  and 
what  we  ought  to  do.  The  President  and  my 
self,  and  all  the  officers  of  the  Government, 
want  to  do  the  thing  that  is  right.  While  you 
are  here,  therefore,  we  shall  want  you  to  tell 
us  what  is  in  your  own  hearts,  all  you  feel, 
and  what  your  condition  is,  so  that  we  may 
have  a  perfect  understanding,  that  we  may 
make  a  peace  that  shall  last  forever.  In  com 
ing  here  you  have  seen  that  this  is  a  very  great 
people,  and  we  are  growing  all  the  time.  We 
want  to  find  out  the  condition  of  things  in  the 
Sioux  country,  so  that  we  may  make  satisfac 
tory  treaties.  In  a  day  or  two  the  President 
himself  will  see  the  chiefs,  and,  in  the  mean 
time,  we  want  them  to  prepare  to  tell  him  what 
they  have  to  say,  and  we  will  make  our  answer, 


172  AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

honestly  as  we  mean.  We  want  also  to  use 
our  influence  so  that  there  shall  not  only  be 
peace  between  the  Indians  and  whites,  but  so 
that  there  shall  be  no  more  trouble  about  diffi 
culties  between  different  bands  of  Indians." 

The  Secretary  then  addressed  a  few  words  to 
Spotted  Tail,  thanking  him  for  being  present 
at  the  interview,  and  telling  him  that  he  was 
glad  of  the  good  will  he  had  for  the  whites. 

This  was  supposed  to  be  the  end  of  the  inter 
view,  but  Red  Cloud  had  something  to  say, 
and  spoke  in  his  usual  arrogant  style,  as  fol 
lows  : 

u  My  friends,  I  have  come  a  long  way  to  see 
you  and  the  Great  Father,  but  somehow,  after  I 
have  reached  here,  you  do  not  look  at  me. 
When  I  heard  the  words  of  the  Great  Father  per 
mitting  me  to  come,  I  came  right  away,  and  left 
my  women  and  children.  I  want  you  to  give 
them  rations  and  a  load  of  ammunition  to  kill 
game  with.  I  wish  you  would  telegraph  to  my 
people  about  it.  Tell  them  I  arrived  all  right." 

The  Secretary  promised  to  telegraph  Red 
Cloud's  people  that  he  had  arrived  safely,  and 
that  his  other  requests  would  receive  careful 
attention. 

Red  Cloud  felt  the  slight  in  not  having  been 
invited  to  see  the  President  when  Spotted  Tail 
had  his  interview,  and  this  is  what  he  meant 
when  he  said  that  his  friends  did  not  seem  to 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF   DAKOTA.  178 

see  him,  now  that  he  had  arrived.  This  chief 
is  a  typical  representative  of  his  race,  who  are 
often  egotistical,  arrogant,  and  abounding  in 
self-esteem. 

After  leaving  the  Interior  Building,  such  of 
the  party  as  desired  to  do  so  visited  the  Capi 
tol,  the  House  being  in  session  and  considering 
the  Indian  appropriation  bill.  They  filed  into 
the  gallery,  and  taking  front  seats,  looked 
down  upon  the  President's  Council,  as  they 
called  it,  attracting  much  attention  from  the 
members,  who  could  see  the  chieftains  compla 
cently  fanning  themselves,  while  the  former 
voted  their  supplies. 

The  party  were  taken  to  the  dome  of  the 
capitol,  where  they  could  have  an  extended 
view  of  the  city  and  adjacent  country,  and 
within  of  the  rotunda.  They  realized  that 
they  were  a  long  distance  from  the  ground, 
and  soon  desired  to  retrace  their  steps,  and  be 
upon  solid  earth  once  more.  The  reception 
room  of  the  President,  furnished  in  marble, 
was  looked  at,  and  the  bronze  and  gilt  of 
the  chandeliers  were  to  them  the  most  at 
tractive  features  here.  Some  marble  busts  of 
Indians  attracted  their  attention  on  account 
of  the  subject. 

They  utterly  failed  to  realize  the  accumulated 
amount  of  toil  and  treasure  represented  in  this 
vast  building.  Their  uncultivated  minds  passed 


174  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA. 

it  by  without  study  or  thought.  Nevertheless, 
these  same  savages  were  the  leaders  of  a  people, 
who,  stirred  by  the  magic  of  their  rude  elo 
quence  and  personal  prowess,  could  put  a  fight 
ing  force  into  the  field,  the  recountal  of  whose 
horrid  deeds  would  stir  the  nation,  and  to  sup 
press  which  would  cost  in  treasure  far  more 
than  this  magnificent  building.  So,  why  should 
they  not  be  conciliated  ? 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  175 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

VISIT  THE  ARSENAL  AND  NAVY  YARD  UNDER  DIRECTION  OF 
THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  AND  NAVY. 

WORD  was  sent  to  me  that  the  Indians  were 
to  be  shown  through  the  Arsenal  and 
Navy  Yard,  the  object  being  to  impress  them 
with  the  power  and  greatness  of  the  Govern 
ment,  and  its  many  appliances  for  destroying- 
its  enemies. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  and  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Af 
fairs,  the  two  delegations  were  first  taken  to 
the  Arsenal,  and  shown  through  the  grounds 
by  the  Secretary  o'f  War.  In  everything  per 
taining  to  warfare  the  Indians  took  a  lively  in 
terest,  and  examined  minutely  all  implements 
that  came  under  their  keen  observation.  A 
twenty-inch  Columbiad,  mounted  on  its  im 
mense  iron  carriage,  was  in  position  on  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac,  and  was  mano3uvred  by 
a  squad  of  artillery  men  for  the  delectation  of 
the  Indian  guests.  The  mammoth  powder  used 
in  loading  this  huge  cannon  was  shown  to  the 


176  AMONG   THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

red  men,  and  elicited  some  astonishment  on 
account  of  the  size  of  its  grains,  almost  as  large 
as  nut  coal,  and  very  different  from  the  coveted 
tine-grained  rifle  powder  in  use  among  them. 
They  were  still  more  surprised  when  they  saw 
a  hundred  pound  sack  of  this  coarse  powder 
ffsed  for  a  single  charge,  and  the  thousand 
pound  solid  shot  hoisted  to  the  cannon's  mouth 
by  means  of  machinery,  and  then  allowed  to 
roll  to  the  bottom  of  the  bore. 

The  machinery  for  loading  did  not  work 
smoothly,  and  much  time  was  consumed  before 
the  cannon  was  ready  for  discharge. 

The  Indians  watched  the  operation,  and  com 
mented  upon  the  length  of  time  it  took  for 
loading.  They  united  in  condemning  the  huge 
destroyer  as  being  of  no  practical  use.  As 
they  expressed  it,  they  could  ride  all  around 
such  a  big  gun  and  over  the  hills  and  far  away 
before  it  could  be  loaded  and  discharged;  be 
sides,  it  was  so  heavy  it  could  not  be  moved,  and 
they  did  not  see  why  any  one  should  want  to 
come  near  the  monster  and  waif  to  be  killed. 
Their  own  mode  of  warfare  is  perfection  to 
them,  and  sea-coast  defense  has  not  been  one 
of  their  studies. 

They  were  promised  by  the  interpreter  a  loud 
noise  when  the  piece  should  be  discharged — one 
that  would  startle  them — but  here  again  they 
were  disappointed.  The  mammoth  powder 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  177 

burnt  slowly,  and  did  not  produce  a  sharp, 
ringing-  shock  in  the  air,  but  a  deep  diapason 
not  unpleasant  to  the  ear,  which  reverberated 
along  the  shores  of  the  Potomac,  and  was  prob 
ably  heard  twenty  miles  away,  but  was  lost 
upon  the  Indians.  Had  the  concussion  knocked 
them  off  their  feet,  its  power  would  have  im 
pressed  them. 

The  shot  struck  the  water  some  three  miles 
down  the  river,  and  threw  up  jets  of  water  as  it 
ricocheted  over  the  surface,  ending  in  a  final 
splash  and  plunge. 

Next  a  light  field  battery  of  four  guns  was 
rapidly  loaded  and  fired  at  a  target  in  the  river, 
and,  as  the  solid  shot  and  shell  and  canister 
threw  up  the  water  near  the  target,  the  savage 
visitors  were  highly  delighted,  and  acknowl 
edged  that  it  would  make  matters  very  lively  for 
them  to  come  in  contact  with  such  a  battery  on 
the  prairie. 

The  Museum  was  visited,  where  the  various 
arms  in  use,  past  and  present,  were  exhibited; 
also  the  arms  of  foreign  nations.  Some  models, 
dressed  to  show  the  different  uniforms  of  sol 
diers  in  this  and  other  countries,  entertained 
them  for  a  while. 

From  the  Arsenal  they  were  escorted  to  the 
Navy  Yard,  to  be  royally  entertained  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy.  The  marines  were  in 
full  dress,  and  so  also  were  the  officers  of  the 


178  AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

navy  stationed  there.  The  marines  were  pa 
raded  in  line,  and  presented  arms  to  the  princely 
visitors,  while  their  band  discoursed  music. 
All  the  machinery  in  the  yard  was  in  operation, 
showing,  among  other  things,  the  different  pro 
cesses  in  the  manufacture  of  howitzers,  and  the 
various  kinds  of  fixed  ammunition  for  small 
arms — the  leaden  bullet,  copper  shell,  percus 
sion  and  powder.  The  huge  trip  hammer  was 
set  in  motion,  and  used  in  forging  an  immense 
sheet  anchor.  Its  mighty  weight  came  down 
with  such  force  as  to  shake  the  ground,  and 
sent  out  huge  scintillating  sparks  on  all  sides; 
but  the  Indians  looked  on  with  stoical  indiffer 
ence.  They  could  not  comprehend  the  wonder 
ful  mechanical  contrivances  exhibited  before 
them. 

After  they  had  examined  the  various  shops, 
they  returned  through  one  where  howitzers 
were  being  turned  down  on  a  lathe,  a  sharp 
steel  point  cutting  a  thin,  narrow  strip  of  brass, 
which  coiled  up  and  dropped  down  as  waste 
material.  These  bright  ringlets  attracted  the 
notice  of  Spotted  Tail  and  Red  Cloud,  and  they 
asked  permission  to  take  some  of  them  Of 
course  this  was  granted,,  and  all  the  Indians 
helped  themselves,  stowing  away  the  bits  of 
metal  in  the  hidden  mysteries  of  their  blankets, 
as  much  pleased  as  any  children.  They  had 
seen  nothing  else  in  the  whole  Navy  Yard  that 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  179 

aroused   so  much  admiration  as  these  bright 
strips  of  brass. 

An  iron-turreted  monitor  was  lying  at  the 
wharf,  with  steam  on  hand  sufficient  to  turn  her 
turret,  and  the  Indians  were  invited  to  inspect 
her.  When  told  that  the  vessel  was  made  en 
tirely  of  iron,  they  doubted  the  statement,  say 
ing  it  was  impossible  for  iron  to  float  in  water, 
and  remained  incredulous  until  it  was  sug 
gested  to  them  that  they  could  try  and  cut  the 
deck,  which  was  within  reach  of  the  wharf, 
with  their  knives.  Both  Spotted  Tail  and  Red 
Cloud  tried  the  experiment,  and  having  found, 
much  to  their  astonishment,  that  the  vessel  was 
really  all  iron,  they  doubted  the  advisability  of 
going  on  board,  as  there  was  danger  of  her 
sinking.  They  held  quite  a  long  consultation 
among  each  other  on  the  subject,  but  finally  de 
cided  to  do  so  provided  I  would  take  the  lead. 

The  chiefs  followed  very  close  upon  my  heels 
while  on  board,  particularly  when  going  below 
decks.  The  vessel  was  down  in  the  water 
within  a  couple  of  feet  of  the  upper  deck,  and, 
as  they  had  noticed  this,  they  concluded,  when 
going  down  the  steps  of  the  companion  way, 
that  they  must  be  under  water,  and  insisted 
upon  retracing  their  steps  to  the  upper  deck. 
None  of  the  Indians  wanted  to  stay  long  on 
board,  and  all  were  glad  to  step  on  shore  when 
the  inspection  "was  over. 


180  AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

After  they  had  gone  through  the  yard,  the 
party  were  invited  to  the  commanding  officer's 
quarters  to  partake  of  a  collation  which  he 
had  ready  for  his  guests,  who,  cl tiring  their 
whole  visit,  had  been  as  well  entertained  as 
any  foreign  prince  or  potentate  could  have 
been. 


AMONG   THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  181 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

LEVEE    AT     PRESIDENTIAL    MANSION     GIVEN    TO    INDIANS. 

ON  the  morning  of  June  6th,  Spotted  Tail 
and  Red  Cloud  were  notified  that  the 
President  would  see  them  and  their  respective 
followers  at  the  White  House  that  evening  at 
seven  o'clock.  This  was  to  be  the  great  event 
to  the  Indians  during  their  visit  to  Washing 
ton,  and  they  spent  most  of  the  afternoon  in 
arranging  their  toilets.  Spotted  Tail  and  friends 
having  already  seen  the  Great  Father,  did  not 
fail  to  show  their  greater  importance  in  conse 
quence,  and  gave  the  Red  Cloud  party  the  bene 
fit  of  their  superior  knowledge,  by  informing 
them  of  some  points  of  etiquette  which  they 
thought  might  be  useful  to  the  latter. 

Spotted  Tail  and  party  did  not  make  any 
great  change  in  their  usual  dress,  contenting 
themselves  with  putting  on  clean  white  shirts, 
rearranging  their  hair  with  its  simple  eagle's 
feather,  and  applying  a  modest  quantity  of 
paint.  They  scrutinized  themselves  carefully 
in  their  hand  mirrors,  using  the  tweezer  when 


182  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

necessary,  and  were  ready  for  the  entertain 
ment. 

But  the  Ogallalas  shook  out  their  eagle 
feather  head  dresses,  and  adjusted  them  to  see 
if  they  were  all  right  for  the  occasion.  These 
grotesque  head  dresses,  or  war  bonnets,  are 
made  of  eagles'  feathers,  usually  sewed  into  red 
flannel,  and  have  a  train  extending  from  the 
head  to  the  ground.  With  rude  surroundings 
they  are  not  only  odd,  but  picturesque ;  but 
under  the  glare  of  gaslight  and  in  sumptuous 
drawing  rooms,  they  were  rather  too  primitive 
to  be  admired.  There  were  three  or  four  of 
these  fantastic  head  dresses  in  the  Red  Cloud 
party,  and  the  latter  daubed  themselves  more 
plentifully  with  paint  than  the  Brules  had 
done.  All  the  Indians  wore  their  usual  dark- 
blue  blankets  embroidered  with  beads,  and 
leggins  and  moccasins  similarly  adorned.  The 
four  squaws  were  thickly  painted  on  their 
faces,  and  were  attired  in  plain  short  calico 
dresses,  leggins,  moccasins  and  blue  blankets 
without  embroidery  or  other  ornamentation. 
They  thus  followed  the  usual  law  of  nature, 
the  male  appearing  in  the  more  gorgeous  plum 
age. 

The  delegation  were  driven  to  the  White 
House  in  open  barouches,  and  upon  arrival 
were  shown  immediately  into  the  East  Room, 
which  was  decorated  with  flowers  and  brilliantly 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  183 

illuminated.  The  owners  of  the  war  bonnets, 
which  were  too  cumbersome  to  be  worn  in  a 
carriage,  now  carefully  adjusted  them,  and  all 
had  a  short  time  to  view  the  room  with  its 
Turkish  carpets,  rich  curtains  and  massive 
chandeliers,  whose  pendent  prisms  reflected  a 
hundred  lights.  Soon  the  folding  doors  from 
the  hall  were  thrown  open,  and  the  President 
entered,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  daughter, 
the  Cabinet  Ministers  and  their  wives,  the 
Diplomatic  Corps  and  their  wives,  and  a  few 
Senators  and  Representatives. 

The  Indians  were  seated  on  chairs  and  sofas, 
taking  up  nearly  the  whole  south-east  side  of 
the  large  drawing-room.  The  Presidential 
party  took  position  opposite  to  them,  and  upon 
an  intimation  from  the  Commissioner  the  inter 
preter  introduced  the  Indians  to  the  President 
and  others,  commencing  with  Spotted  Tail.  As 
they  filed  past  each  shook  hands  and  gave  the 
usual  salutation  "how  !  "  first  to  the  President 
and  then  to  the  other  guests.  This  ceremony 
over  the  Indians  retired  to  their  side  of  the 
room,  and  the  President,  leading  the  way  with 
a  lady  on  his  arm,  addressed,  through  the 
interpreter,  each  of  his  Indian  guests,  while 
his  white  guests  followed  suite.  Soon  all  were 
mingled  together,  some  of  the  whites  and 
Indians  trying  to  hold  conversation  without  an 
interpreter,  but  with  poor  success. 


184  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

The  chiefs,  warriors  and  squaws  were  objects 
of  the  liveliest  interest,  especially  to  the  foreign 
ministers  and  their  wives,  who  evidently  en 
joyed  the  novel  scene.  The  grotesque  dress 
and  rude  ornaments  and  trinkets  worn  by  the 
Indians  were  minutely  examined,  while  the 
squaws  in  their  turn  showed  the  usual  interest 
of  their  sex  by  admiring  the  dresses  of  the 
white  women  present.  They  were  especially 

attracted  by  Madame  Gr ,  an  Italian  beauty, 

who  wore  a  dress  beautifully  ornamented  with 
Uoman  pearls.  This  lady  noticing  their  ad 
miration,  tore  off  the  rich  pearl  fringe  and 
gave  some  to  each  of  them.  They  were  highly 
pleased,  and  immediately  deposited  the  orna 
ments  within  the  folds  of  their  blankets. 

The  contrast  between  the  white  women  and 
the  Indian  women  was  extreme.  The  former 
lithe  and  graceful,  delicately  formed,  with 
finely  cut  features,  the  peers  and  companions 
of  man ;  the  latter  heavy  and  awkward,  coarse 
featured  and  overworked,  the  menials  and 
slaves  of  their  male  companions.  The  elevation 
of  women  by  civilization  and  enlightenment, 
and  her  low  estate  under  the  rule  of  savages 
were  here  boldly  outlined. 

After  an  hour  or  so  of  mutual  examin 
ation,  the  doors  were  thrown  open  into  the 
broad  hall,  and  the  green,  blue  and  red  rooms, 
and  thence  into  the  State  dining-room,  where 


AMONG   THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  185 

another  surprise  met  the  gaze  of  the  savages. 
The  State  dining  table  was  handsomely  decor 
ated  and  mirrored  by  a  glass  partially  hidden 
by  its  rich  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  dishes, 
glasses,  flowers  #nd  bouquets,  and  covered  with 
fruits,  ices,  creams  and  confections.  It  was  a 
tempting  feast  to  the  eye  of  the  civilized 
guests,  but  in  strange  contrast  to  any  that  the 
mind  of  the  savage  could  conceive.  Neverthe 
less,  when  ranged  about  the  table  and  helped 
from  its  bountiful  dishes,  the  Indians  were  far 
from  reluctant  in  partaking  of  luxuries  which 
they  had  never  tasted  before.  They  were 
shown  every  attention  by  their  white  friends. 
The  President's  wife  and  daughter,  and  the 
wives  of  the  foreign  ministers  were  assiduous 
in  helping  Spotted  Tail,  Red  Cloud  and  the 
warriors  to  the  good  things  from  the  table ; 
while  the  President  himself  and  other  high 
functionaries  waited  upon  the  squaws.  The 
Indians  showed  good  taste  in  drinking  sparing 
ly  of  the  wine  oifered  them.  Their  deportment 
in  this  respect  corresponded  with  their  usual 
dignified  and  courtly  bearing  when  in  the 
presence  of  strangers.  The  repast  over,  the 
guests  repaired  again  to  the  east  room,  and 
mingled  freely  together  for  a  time.  Miss 
Nellie  Grant  and  a  young  lady  friend  pre 
sented  each  one  with  a  bouquet.  The  Indians 
hardly  knew  what  to  do  with  them,  but  man- 


186  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

aged  to  keep  them  in  their  hands  in  imitation 
of  the  other  guests.  President  Grant  inquired 
of  Spotted  Tail  the  number  of  his  children, 
and  was  answered  eleven  He  then  said  that 
he  would  take  one  of  the  boys  and  have  him 
educated  and  taken  care  of  by  the  Govern 
ment. 

Spotted  Tail  said  he  would  think  about  it. 
The  only  son  old  enough  at  this  time  to  leave 
the  parental  tepee  had,  although  only  sixteen 
years  of  age,  gained  lasting  glory  among  his 
people  by  killing  and  scalping  a  Pawnee,  and 
was  on  the  high  road  to  a  chieftainship — a  dis 
tinction  more  prized  by  his  father  than  the 
tame  life  offered  by  the  President  in  the  paths 
of  education. 

I  subsequently  reminded  Spotted  Tail  several 
times  of  this  offer,  but  he  was  never  inclined  to 
move  in  the  matter. 

As  the  time  for  the  Indians  to  take  their 
leave  drew  near,  they  expressed  themselves  as 
well  pleased  with  the  evening,  and,  after  again 
shaking  hands  all  around,  were  driven  back  to 
the  hotel.  Thus  ended  what  was  to  the  guests 
of  both  races  an  unusual  reception,  and  one 
not  likely  to  again  occur  at  the  White  House. 
After  their  return  to  the  hotel,  the  Indians 
talked  the  affair  over  among  themselves,  and 
Spotted  Tail  said  that  the  white  men  had  many 
more  good  things  to  eat  and  drink  than  they 


AMONG  THE  MOfX  OF  DAKOTA.          187 

ever  sent  out  to  the  Indians.  He  was  told  that 
that  was  because  the  white  man  had  quitted 
the  war  path  and  gone  to  farming.  The  chief 
exclaimed  that  he  would  do  the  same  provided 
he  could  be  as  well  treated  and  live  in  as  big  a 
house. 


188  AMONG    THE   SIOUX    OF   DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

LEAVE  WASHINGTON STOP  AT  PHILADELPHIA UNION    LEAGUE 

— U.    S.    MINT. 

SPOTTED  TAIL  and  his  party  having  seen 
most  of  the  notable  objects  in  and  about 
Washington,  and  having  had  a  number  of  in 
terviews  with  the  President,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  and  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  stated  that  the  object  of  their  visit  was 
accomplished,  and  that  they  now  desired  to  be 
on  their  way  home.  So  a  final  interview  was 
held  with  the  Secretary  and  the  Commissioner, 
and  the  former  asked  Spotted  Tail  if  he  had 
anything  further  to  say  before  leaving.  The 
Chief  replied  that  he  only  wished  to  ask  again 
that  his  young  men  might  have  Government 
protection  in  their  annual  buffalo  hunt ;  that 
they  must  either  hunt  or  starve,  and  in 
order  to  avoid  collisions  with  other  tribes,  or 
with  the  whites,  he  wished  some  Government 
agent  to  go  with  them  and  keep  them  from 
fighting. 
The  Secretary  told  him  that  he  should  teach 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  189 

his  young  men  farming  and  other  ways  of 
living,  so  that  when  there  were  no  buffalos 
they  could  have  something  else  to  eat.  Very 
good  advice,  but  Spotted  Tail  was  not  inclined 
to  indorse  the  sentiment.  In  the  course  of  the 
talk  the  Secretary  told  him  that  he  must  expect 
some  trouble  in  his  life  ;  that  white  men  had 
trouble;  whereupon  the  Chief  laughingly  ex 
claimed  : 

"  If  you  had  had  as  much  trouble  in  your  life 
as  I  have  had  in  mine,  you  would  have  cut  your 
throat  long  ago.  The  Chief  must  have  a  stout 
heart." 

He  also  said  that  the  last  chiefs  who  had 
visited  the  Great  Father,  had  returned  home 
barefooted,  and  that  their  people  had  all 
laughed  at  them.  At  this  the  Secretary  said 
that  they  should  go  home  on  horseback,  and 
the  interview  concluded  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  Indians. 

The  party  returned  to  the  hotel  to  make  pre 
parations  for  their  departure,  and  to  say  good 
bye  to  their  friends,  the  Ogallalas,  from  whom 
they  were  now  to  separate.  My  instructions 
were  to  take  them  home  by  way  of  Philadel 
phia  and  New  York,  and  to  such  other  points 
as  would  impress  them  with  the  extent  of  -the- 
country  and  the  number  of  its  people.  The 
visiting  party  arrived  in  Philadelphia  late  in 
the  evening,  and  drove  to  the  Continental, 


190  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

where  they  were  greeted  by  a  large  concourse 
of  people,  who  crowded  the  hallways  and  cor 
ridors  of  the  hotel  so  that  it  was  with  the 
utmost  difficulty  that  an  entrance  was  effected. 

The  spectators  were  so  eager  to  see  the 
Indians,  that  it  was  only  after  much  crowding 
and  jostling,  that  they  were  finally  secured  in 
their  rooms  free  from  molestation  for  the  night. 

The  next  morning  they  were  visited  by  a  large 
number  of  interested  people  who  went  through 
the  usual  handshaking  with  the  Indians,  but 
the  latter  gave  no  special  welcome  to  any  but 
Mr.  William  Welsh.  This  gentleman,  form 
erly  President  of  the  Peace  Commission,  had 
resigned  that  position  to  take  independent 
charge  of  the  Sioux  on  the  Missouri  River,  and 
was  doing  most  excellent  work  for  them. 

At  about  ten  o'clock  the  delegation  under 
conduct  of  Mr.  Welsh  were  driven  to  the 
United  States  Mint.  A  large  crowd  had  assem 
bled  outside  and  stared  eagerly  at  the  Indians 
as  they  passed  into  the  office  of  the  director, 
who  made  a  short  speech  of  welcome,  and  pre 
sented  to  each  of  the  Indians  a  silver  medal 
bearing  the  profile  portraits  of  Washington 
and  Grant,  with  which  they  were  much  pleased. 
They  were  then  conducted  through  the  various 
departments,  the  operations  of  which  were 
briefly  explained  to  them.  Having  become 
somewhat  accustomed  to  sight-seeing,  they  ap- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  191 

parently  took  an  interest  in  the  explanations  of 
the  operation  of  coining  money  from  bars  of 
bullion.  They  were  allowed  to  lift  a  box  con 
taining  several  thousand  dollars  in  gold.  In 
the  assaying  room  the  Governor  showed  them 
the  process  of  separating  silver  from  water, 
which  especially  attracted  their  attention. 
Spotted  Tail  remarked  : 

u  You  show  us  how  to  do  it,  but  you  don't 
teach  us."  Spotted  Tail  was  like  Polonius, 
still  harping  on  his  daughter,  and  wondered 
why  it  was,  when  the  Great  Father  had  so  much 
money,  that  he  did  not  pay  them  more.  In  the 
upper  part  of  the  building  is  the  adjusting- 
room,  where  the  employees  are  women.  Mr. 
Guern  made  Spotted  Tail  say  that  the  gold  and 
silver  were  pretty  to  look  at,  but  that  he  would 
rather  look  at  the  squaws.  From  the  Mint  the 
party  were  taken  to  view  the  picture,  "Sheri 
dan's  Ride,"  and  while  there  the  poem  on  the 
subject  was  recited,  but  the  Indians  were  like 
Casca  coming  from  Cicero' s  oration  in  Greek- 
it  was  all  Greek  to  them. 

They  were  next  driven  to  the  Union  League 
House  and  handsomely  entertained.  After 
being  shown  through  the  various  beautifully 
furnished  rooms  of  the  club,  they  were  taken 
to  the  reception  room,  where  Signor  Blitz,  who 
was  present,  performed  some  of  his  most  bril 
liant  feats,  for  their  benefit.  Spotted  Tail  was 


192  AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

taken  in  hand  to  assist  in  one  of  the  slight-of- 
hand  tricks.  The  signer  produced  a  small 
walking  cane,  which  he  requested  Spotted  Tail 
to  hold  firmly  with  both  hands,  a  short  dis 
tance  from  either  end.  He  then  asked  for  a  ring 
from  any  one  in  the  audience,  and,  on  its  being- 
produced,  placed  it  against  the  cane,  covering 
it  with  a  handkerchief  ;  he  then  quickly  with 
drew  the  handkerchief,  and  left  the  ring  rapidly 
revolving  upon  the  cane,  greatly  to  the  amaze 
ment  of  Spotted  Tail.  The  Indians  were  al 
lowed  to  examine  the  ring  to  see  if  there  was 
any  opening  or  secret  spring,  but  failed  to  find 
one,  and  were  completely  nonplussed.  A  num 
ber  of  tricks  were  performed,  with  which  the 
Indians  were  highly  pleased,  and  they  pro 
nounced  the  signor  a  great  medicine  man. 
They  also  said  that  they  had  been  bountifully 
feasted  since  they  left  home,  but  that  this  was 
the  first  amusement  they  had  enjoyed.  It  was 
suggested  that  the  signor  would  make  a  good 
Peace  Commissioner,  his  feats  of  legerdemain 
having  the  power  to  break  through  the  apparent 
stolidity  of  the  Indians  as  nothing  else  had. 
After  a  fine  collation  the  party  took  their  de 
parture,  the  entire  aifair  at  the  Union  League 
House  having  been  a  most  agreeable  one,  which 
left  pleasant  and  lasting  impressions  upon  the 
minds  of  the  distinguished  savages. 

A  large  crowd  collected  in  front  of  Independ- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  193 

ence  Hall,  and  remained  until  a  late  hour  in  the 
afternoon,  in  the  hope  of  seeing  the  Indian 
chiefs;  but  Spotted  Tail  and  his  friends  pre 
ferred  the  seclusion  of  their  rooms  to  making 
any  more  visits. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love 
were  almost  too  demonstrative  for  the  comfort 
of  their  Indian  guests. 


194  AMONG  THE   *IOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

VISITS    IN    NEW    YORK BROADWAY    AND     CENTRAL     PARK ON 

BOARD    FRENCH     FRIGATE. 

A  FTER  a  day  spent  in  the  city  peopled  by  the 
t\.  descendants  of  those  who,  in  their  dealings 
with  red  men,  had  said,  "  We  are  met  on  the 
broad  pathway  of  good  faith  and  good  will, 
so  that  no  advantage  is  to  be  taken  on  either 
side,  but  all  to  be  openness,  brotherhood  and 
love,"  the  Indians  were  taken  by  rail  to  New 
York,  to  be  still  further  impressed  with  the  ex 
tent  of  the  white  man's  country,  and  the  num 
ber  of  its  people. 

On  arrival  they  were  provided  for  at  the 
Astor  House,  from  whose  steps  could  be  heard 
the  rumble  and  roar  of  the  ceaseless  train  of 
vehicles  passing  over  the  hard  paved  streets, 
and  where  could  be  seen  the  vast  throng  of 
pedestrians  eagerly  pressing  onward  in  an  end 
less  stream.  Here  the  Indians  could  see  and 
gain  some  knowledge  of  the  number  of  white 
men  in  their  Great  Father's  country.  They 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  195 

were  shown  views  of  Broadway,  the  grandest 
street  in  the  world,  it  is  said,  with  its  long  un 
dulating  perspective,  and  grand  panorama  of 
human  activity  and  industry.  They  looked 
upon  the  scene  with  their  usual  stoicism.  Spot 
ted  Tail  could  not  be  drawn  into  any  expression 
of  opinion,  but  Swift  Bear  announced  his  con 
viction  that  these  were  the  same  people,  who 
had  followed  their  party  from  Chicago  to  Wash 
ington,.  Philadelphia,  and  now  to  New  York. 
He  could  not  tel]  how  they  were  transported, 
but  was  firm  in  his  belief  that  they  were  the 
same  individuals. 

There  was  some  excuse  for  this  strange  idea; 
for  the  Indians  had  been  kept  busy  in  viewing 
new  sights  and  scenes  until  they  were  some 
what  dazed.  There  was  a  similarity  too  in  the 
individuals  who  gazed  upon  and  jostled  them 
whenever  they  left  the  cars,  and  who  crowded 
the  walks  when  they  made  their  appearance 
from  the  hotel.  In  every  city  the  young  street 
Arabs  ran  alongside  of  the  carriages  when  the 
Indians  were  out  for  a  drive,  and  shouted  and 
yelled,  and  called  the  attention  of  their  friends 
to  the  unusual  sight  in  just  the  same  way.  The 
inhabitants  of  an  Indian  village  have  such 
numbers  of  ponies,  anywhere  from  six  to  two 
dozen  to  each  family,  that  they  are  always 
ready  to  move  in  a  body.  An  hour' s  time  would 
suffice  to  put  a  number  of  thousands  of  them 


196  AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

under  way,  with  their  families,  household  goods 
and  dwellings. 

Swift  Bear  may  have  thought  that  the  so- 
called  superior  white  men  had  superior  facil 
ities  for  moving  his  towns  and  dwellings,  and 
that  thousands  of  them  could  follow  a  few  In 
dians.  Egotism  is  a  dominant  characteristic 
of  the  savage,  and  the  idea  of  a  fixed  and  per 
manent  home  for  a  people  does  not  enter  into 
his  philosophy. 

The  military  drama  -4  Not  Guilty  "  was  being 
performed  at  Niblo's,  and  was  a  play  calcu 
lated  to  interest  the  Indians  in  its  scenic  effects, 
so  they  were  taken  there  and  were  well  pleased. 
The  sight  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers, 
with  regimental  band  and  drum  corps,  filled 
their  idea  of  an  entertainment.  The  embark 
ation  of  the  volunteers  for  India,  and  the  field 
of  battle  during  an  engagement,  were  presented 
with  such  scenic  surroundings  as  to  make  effec 
tive  tableaux,  which  were  fully  understood  and 
enjoyed  by  the  red  men,  but  they  were  as  un 
demonstrative  as  living  creatures  could  be. 

The  following  Sunday,  June  12th,  being  a 
delightful  summer  day,  and  the  streets  being 
comparatively  quiet,  carriages  were  procured, 
and  the  Indians  driven  the  length  of  Broadway 
and  Fifth  Avenue  to  Central  Park.  The  park 
was  clothed  in  its  freshest  summer  dress,  leaves 
and  grass  and  tiowers  looking  their  brightest. 


AMONG   THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  197 

The  nomads  were  here  presented  with  a  scene 
of  fairy  land,  the  perfection  of  an  ideal  land 
scape,  the  work  of  man,  which  they  could  com 
pare  with  their  own  boundless  park,  the  prairie, 
dotted  with  wild  flowers,  its  outlines  broken 
by  high  buttes  and  strips  of  woodland,  the 
work  of  nature.  While  viewing  the  former 
they  could  have  pleasant  dreams  of  the  latter. 

Spotted  Tail,  who  was  in  the  carriage  with 
me,  *was  asked  to  look  at  a  particularly  tine 
view  of  the  city  from  a  high  elevation  in  the 
park,  and  was  found  to  be  dreaming  indeed. 
The  soft  cushions  of  the  carriage,  and  its  gentle 
motion  over  the  smooth  roadway,  had  rocked 
him  to  sleep,  while  I  had  supposed  that  he  was 
being  fully  impressed  with  the  grandeur  of  the 
workr  of  white  men. 

On  our  return  to  the  hotel  Mr.  Stetson  brought 
into  the  room,  where  the  Indians  were  enjoying 
their  siesta,  a  toy  velocipedist,  and  set  it  in 
motion.  The  chiefs  and  warriors  were  intensely 
delighted  with  it,  and  all  enjoyed  a  hearty 
laugh  over  and  over  again  as  it  was  wound  up 
and  set  going.  Spotted  Tail  expressed  a  de 
sire  to  possess  such  a  toy,  and  was  highly  de 
lighted  when  Mr.  Stetson  presented  him  with 
one. 

The  next  day  the  Indians  were  invited  by 
Admiral  Lafebre  to  visit  the  French  frigate 
"  Magicienne,"  lying  at  anchor  off  the  Battery. 


198  AMONG   THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

This  invitation  was  accepted.  When  the  party 
arrived  at  the  Battery  they  were  immediately 
surrounded  by  the  usual  crowd,  and  only  by 
shoving  and  pushing  did  we  manage  to  gain 
the  stairway  leading  from  the  Battery  to  the 
water.  Here  the  Admiral's  cutter  was  lying, 
manned  by  a  crew  of  eight  oarsmen,  with  a 
young  officer  in  charge.  We  were  quickly 
seated  in  the  stern  sheets,  and  the  men  giving 
way  on  their  oars,  were  soon  rapidly  nearing 
the  frigate. 

This  was  an  entirely  new  experience  to  the 
Indians,  and  as  the  water  was  a  little  rough, 
and  rocked  the  boat  as  she  cut  through  the 
waves,  propelled  by  the  strong  arms  of  the 
crew,  they  held  on  to  the  gunwales  with  their 
hands,  rather  nervously,  but  their  faces  had 
the  same  expression  they  would  have  borne 
had  they  been  crossing  the  turbid  Missouri  in 
one  of  their  own  familiar  dug-outs,  and  they 
must  have  given  to  the  subjects  of  a  foreign 
nation  who  were  rowing  them,  the  impression 
that  a  ride  of  this  kind  was  an  every- day  occur 
rence  to  them. 

Having  arrived  alongside  the  frigate,  the 
visiting  party  were  received  by  the  admiral  and 
his  officers,  and  were  shown  to  the  admiral's 
cabin,  where  all  were  hospitably  entertained. 
Mr.  Gfuern  was  kept  busy  translating  conversa 
tions  from  English  into  French  and  French  into 


AMONC   THE   STOUX   OF   DAKOTA.  199 

Sioux,  according-  to  the  wants  of  the  company. 
After  cake  and  wine,  the  admiral  and  his  offi 
cers  conducted  the  visitors  over  the  ship.  Her 
heavy  broadside  guns  were  loaded  with  blank 
cartridges,  and  the  Indians  were  invited  to  dis 
charge  them  The  small  arms  were  exhibited, 
including  cutlasses,  boarding  pikes,  revolvers 
and  rifles.  The  latter  were  of  the  Chassepot 
pattern,  in  use  by  the  French  nation,  the  breech- 
loading  arrangements  of  which  are  quite  differ 
ent  from  those  of  the  various  arms  in  use  in  this 
country.  The  mechanism  of  this  gun  was  ex 
plained  to  the  Indians,  and  it  was  loaded  and 
discharged  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  show  its 
effectiveness  in  this  respect.  But  they  were 
each  possessed  of  a  Winchester  Magazine  rifle, 
which  could  be  loaded  and  discharged  even 
more  rapidly,  and  was  a  better-looking  and 
better  finished  arm,  so  they  were  not  impressed 
by  the  Chassepot.  If  the  Indian  is  too  un 
tutored  to  understand  the  real  merit  of  white 
men's  industry  in  building  cities  and  beautify 
ing  the  landscape,  he  is  thoroughly  alive  when 
he  comes  in  contact  with  their  implements  of 
warfare,  and  on  every  occasion  minutely  in 
spects  their  mechanism,  and  is  quick  to  perceive 
any  advantages  they  may  possess.  The  Sioux 
warrior  is  as  well  armed  as  any  in  the  world,  as 
dexterous  in  the  use  of  his  weapons,  and  as  so 
licitous  in  the  care  of  them,  which  was,  per- 


200  AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

haps,  one  reason  why  this  delegation  was  visit 
ing  on  board  a  French  frigate  in  New  York 
harbor. 

After  a  somewhat  lengthy  but  informal  in 
spection  of  the  frigate,  the  visitors  bade  good 
bye  to  their  pleasant  entertainers,  and  returned 
to  the  hotel. 

The  next  visit  was  to  the  Herald  building, 
where  the  Indians  were  shown  through  the 
various  departments,  and  the  machinery  of  the 
press  room  put  in  motion  for  their  benefit. 
This  was  a  marvel  and  a  mystery  to  the  no 
mads. 

I  had  been  delegated  to  supervise  the  pur 
chase  of  jsome  presents  for  the  Indians,  the  ar 
ticles  to  be  selected  by  themselves,  but  not  to 
exceed  a  certain  amount  in  total  value.  For 
this  purpose  I  took  them  to  a  wholesale  house 
on  Broadway  which  dealt  in  Indian  goods,  and 
here  they  found  many  things  that  they  coveted. 
They  each  selected  blankets,  beads,  paint,  um 
brellas,  fans  and  dolls.  The  dolls  were  for  their 
children,  who  were  not  forgotten  by  their  much- 
traveled  fathers,  but  the  umbrellas  and  fans 
were  for  themselves  and  not  for  their  faithful 
squaws,  as  one  might  suppose.  The  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water  have  no  time  to 
loiter  under  umbrellas  or  to  fan  themselves 
while  gossiping,  and  these  articles  belong 
strictly  to  the  male  attire,  Swift  Bear  and  the 


AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  201 

two  warriors  each  indulged  in  a  roll  of  German 
silver  plate,  which  is  used  by  the  Indians  for 
making  rude  breast-plates  and  ornaments  to 
suspend  from  the  neck.  It  is  also  used  by 
some  of  the  warriors  for  ornamenting  the  scalp 
lock,  being  made  in  this  case  into  a  series  of 
graduated  circles,  the  largest  about  six  inches 
in  diameter  and  the  smallest  about  two  These 
circles  are  fastened  together  by  strips  of  tanned 
skin,  and  when  worn  the  largest  circle  is  at 
tached  to  the  scalp  lock,  and  the  smaller  end 
trails  near  the  ground.  In  addition  to  their 
various  selections  of  goods,  each  Indian  was 
provided  with  a  trunk  in  which  to  pack  his  new^ 
possessions.  The  Indians  were  invited  to  visit 
many  places  of  interest  in  the  city  and  harbor, 
but  they  were  becoming  impatient  of  the  delay 
in  the  East,  and  constantly  asked  to  be  taken 
back  to  their  friends  on  the  prairie,  to  once 
more  enjoy  its  boundless  freedom.  The  visit 
of  the  delegation  to  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  had  developed  an  unexpected 
kindness  on  the  part  of  the  people  towards 
these  Indians,  which  indicated  that  the  masses 
were  in  full  sympathy  with  any  efficient  move 
ment  to  ameliorate  their  condition  and  advance 
them  on  the  road  to  civilization. 


202  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

BET  URN  HOME STOP  IN  CHICAGO,  PURCHASES  OF  HORSES  AND 

CLOTHING— ARRIVAL  AT  THE  AGENCY. 

THE  Indians  having  become  surfeited  with 
scenes  and  incidents  of  Metropolitan  life, 
I  believed  that  it  would  not  add  to  their  stock 
of  information  to  keep  them  against  their  in 
clinations,  and  decided  to  take  them  home  by 
the  most  expeditious  route. 

Accordingly  on  the  evening  of  June  13th,  we 
left  New  York,  and  commenced  the  journey 
westward. 

In  addition  to  the  presents  received  in  New 
York,  the  chiefs  and  warriors  had  the  promise 
that  they  should  go  home  on  horseback.  A 
promise  of  this  kind  is  never  forgotten  by  an 
Indian,  and  the  party  were  true  to  their 
instincts.  Before  they  had  been  on  the  road 
many  hours,  they  reminded  me  of  the  promise 
of  Secretary  Cox,  and  began  to  scrutinize  the 
different  horses  seen  en  route,  and  to  advise  me 
as  to  the  kind  of  animals  they  wished  me  to 
purchase.  They  showed  the  effect  of  associa- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  203 

tion  with  white  men,  and  isolation  from  their 
Mends,  and  the  life  they  led  on  their  native 
prairies,  by  informing  me  that  they  wanted  to 
meet  their  people,  not  only  mounted  on  fine 
horses  with  handsome  trappings,  but  also 
dressed  in  complete  suits  of  clothing,  so  that 
their  friends  could  see  at  a  glance  how  the 
Great  Father's  people  dressed  and  appeared. 
This  was  rather  an  unexpected  request,  coming 
from  those  who  a  few  months  before  had 
treated  the  gift  of  a  large  quantity  of  coats, 
pants  and  hats  with  marked  disdain,  and  had 
intimated  that  it  was  far  from  their  intention  to 
appear  before  their  adherents  clothed  in  such 
habliments. 

This  desire  for  change  of  costume  seemed  an 
indication  that  if  these  simple-minded  people 
were  brought  into  more  intimate  relations  with 
civilization,  and  were  surrounded  by  a  pre 
ponderance  of  the  white  race  in  their  daily  life, 
a  change  of  dress  and  habits  would  soon  be 
realized,  and  their  hold  upon  savage  life  would 
be  loosened. 

We  made  our  first  halt  in  Chicago,  where 
1  informed  the  Indians  I  could  purchase  their 
horses  to  better  advantage  than  at  any  point 
farther  west,  but  that  they  would  have  to  fol 
low  after  us  in  freight  cars,  and  that  it  would 
be  some  days  before  they  would  be  received. 
The  Indians  displayed  their  usual  childish  im- 


204  AMONG   THE   SIOUX   OF   DAKOTA. 

patience  by  not  wanting  any  delay  of  the  kind, 
So  the  horses  were  not  purchased,  but  the 
Indians  selected  their  saddles  and  bridles, 
which  they  were  privileged  to  carry  with  them 
as  baggage. 

Having  plenty  of  spare  time  they  were  shown 
about  the  city,  being  taken  as  usual  in  car 
riages.  While  viewing  the  different  points  of 
interest  they  exhibited  their  knowledge  of  the 
world  and  their  new-made  ideas  by  comment 
ing  upon  the  buildings  and  parks,  and  compar 
ing  them  with  those  they  had  lately  seen  in  the 
East.  In  driving  about  the  city  we  came 
to  one  of  the  tunnels  running  under  the  river. 
When  it  was  explained  to  the  Indians  that  they 
were  about  to  ride  under  the  water,  they  not 
only  exhibited  much  interest  in  the  work,  but 
tiatly  refused  to  pass  through  the  tunnel. 
The  street  running  through  dipped  down  at 
such  a  curve  that  they  could  not  see  their  way 
through,  and  they  peered  suspiciously  in  to  the 
opening  and  concluded  it  was  not  safe.  It  was 
something  unheard  of  to  ride  under  a  river,  and 
there  might  be  some  hidden  danger.  I  re 
minded  them  that  my  chances  of  injury  were 
the  same  as  theirs,  and,  finally,  with  the  top  of 
the  carriage  thrown  back,  that  they  might  bet 
ter  see  all  that  was  going  on  about  them,  they 
consented  to  drive  through.  But  they  did  not 
like  it,  and  were  evidently  relieved  when  it  was 


AMONG  THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  2()t) 

over.  They  had  often  passed  through  the 
dangers  of  battle,  and  would  willingly  do  so 
again,  but  an  unknown  and  unseen  danger  re 
quired  moral  Courage,  which  is  not  possessed 
by  savages. 

Twenty -four  hours  of  railroading  brought  as 
to  Sioux  City,  where  the  Indians  began  to  feel 
more  at  home.  On  the  streets  could  be  seen  a 
stray  Winnebago,  on  leave  from  his  reserva 
tion  in  Nebraska,  the  well-known  half-breed, 
and  familiar  ranchman;  while  tied  to  the  banks 
of  the  turbulent  Missouri  was  the  not  unusual 
stern-wheel  steamboat,  which  brought  their 
supplies  to  the  agency.  They  threw  off  some 
of  their  reserve,  and  conversed  more  freely  with 
those  about  them. 

Here  the  horses  were  to  be  purchased,  and 
the  market  was  inspected  for  suitable  ones;  not 
ponies,  but  American  horses— a  name  applied 
in  the  West  to  the  ordinary  horse  in  use 
among  white  men.  The  dealers  in  these  useful 
animals  were  soon  aware  that  four  were  wanted, 
and  a  perceptible  rise  in  the  market  was  no 
ticed.  The  usual  trials  of  the  gait  and  speed  of 
the  horses  were  undertaken,  and  quite  an 
amount  of  time  consumed  in  dickering  over 
the  prices  to  be  paid,  but  iinally  differences 
were  adjusted  and  the  Indians  supplied  with 
their  coveted  horses,  upon  which  they  intended 
to  appear  before  their  friends  at  home.  A  full 


206  AMONG   THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

suit  of  clothing  was  bought  for  each  Indian, 
and  taken  to  the  hotel.  In  the  seclusion  of 
their  rooms  they  donned  the  dress  of  white 
men,  but  could  not  make  up  their  minds  to  ap 
pear  in  public.  They  were  already  too  far  west 
for  the  change,  so  the  suits  were  packed  in  the 
trunks  among  the  other  novelties.  The  party 
submitted  to  the  blandishments  of  a  photog 
rapher  whom  they  had  seen  up  the  river,  and 
consented  to  sit  for  their  pictures,  which  was  a 
great  departure  for  them.  Spotted  Tail,  how 
ever,  would  not  look  at  the  object-glass  of  the 
camera  during  the  sitting,  as  therein  was  hid 
den  the  bad  medicine.  The  old  question  had 
to  be  settled,  whether  to  embark  on  a  steam 
boat  or  take  an  overland  conveyance.  Spotted 
Tail  had  heard  rumors  of  the  sickness  of  his 
favorite  wife  in  the  Brule  camp,  and  he  was 
anxious  to  make  the  balance  of  the  journey  as 
quickly  as  possible,  so  recourse  was  had  to  pri 
vate  conveyances,  and  a  day's  journey  brought 
us  to  Yankton.  The  newly-purchased  horses 
had  their  first  treatment  at  the  hands  of  In 
dians,  arid,  being  led  behind  our  vehicles,  the 
sixty -four  mile  journey  reduced  their  spirited 
antics  of  the  morning. 

The  Indians  were  now  a  little  less  than  a 
hundred  miles  from  their  homes  and  friends, 
and  expressed  all  the  eagerness  of  children  to 
press  forward  to  their  destination.  The  ride 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  207 

from  Yankton  to  Whetstone  Agency  was  over 
the  familiar  prairie  that  abounds  in  Dakota. 
The  distance  was  so  great  that  we  had  to  halt 
for  the  night  en  route  at  a  lone  ranch,  which 
furnished  the  substantial  meals  of  the  locality, 
and  that  was  about  all.  The  mosquito  season 
was  at  its  height,  and  there  was  no  rest  for 
man  or  beast.  Mosquito  bars  were  not  fur 
nished  by  our  host,  so  that  sleep  under  the 
mud  roof  was  impossible.  The  Indians  covered 
themselves  completely  with  their  blankets  and 
bivouacked  for  the  night,  apparently  enjoying 
an  undisturbed  slumber ;  but  the  white  men 
vainly  contended  against  the  assaults  of 
myriads  of  full-grown  vigorous  mosquitoes, 
who  increase  in  strength,  activity  and  biting- 
powers  as  you  journey  towards  the  north. 
We  found  that  it  required  some  experience 
to  cover  oneself  completely,  head  and  foot, 
with  a,  blanket  of  a  hot  night  and  still  sleep. 
The  mosquitoes  attacked  our  animals  so  vigor 
ously  that  smudges  had  to  be  started,  the 
smoke  from  which  relieved  them  of  some  of 
their  tormentors  and  kept  them  from  breaking 
away  from  their  tethers. 

Not  finding  rest  at  the  ranch  it  was  left 
behind  at  break  of  day.  A  short  stop  was 
made  at  Yankton  Agency,  where  the  chief  of 
the  Yank  tons,  "  Strike- the-ree,"  had  an  op 
portunity  of  interviewing  Spotted  Tail  and 


208  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OP  DAKOTA. 

learning  the  result  of  his  mission.  At  Fort 
Randall  Spotted  Tail  heard  of  the  death  of 
his  favorite  wife,  which  dampened  what  other 
wise  proved  to  be  a  pleasant  ending  of  a  long 
journey.  The  grand  entree  of  the  chiefs  and 
warriors,  mounted  and  newly  clad  in  white 
men's  dress,  was  abandoned.  When  the  party 
arrived  at  the  agency,  Swift  Bear,  Yellow  Hair 
and  Fast  Bear  disappeared  among  their  friends, 
while  Spotted  Tail  journeyed  alone  to  his  camp 
in  sadness  and  sorrow.  He  gave  away  his  line 
new  horse,  saddle  and  bridle,  his  beaded 
blanket,  leggins  and  moccasins,  while  his  well- 
packed  trunk,  tilled  with  presents,  was  also 
u  thrown  upon  the  prairie,"  as  the  Indians  say, 
in  the  abandonment  of  his  overwhelming  grief. 
The  chiefs  and  warriors  never  appeared  in 
their  suits  of  clothing.  The  predominance  of 
Indian  modes  and  customs  had  restored  their 
ideas  of  dress  to  their  normal  condition,  and 
they  were  all  once  more  Indians  among  Indians. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  209 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

AFFAIRS     AT     THE     AGENCY  DIFFICULTY      IN      SUPPRESSING 

WHISKEY    TRAFFIC VISIT    FROM  WM.    WELSH FIRE    THUN 
DER CHANGE    OF    AGENCY. 

UPON  returning  to  the  agency  after  an 
absence  of  over  a  month  in  the  East  with 
the  visiting  delegation,  about  the  same  state  of 
affairs  existed  as  before.  The  garrison  of 
troops  had  shelter  for  themselves,  made  from 
rough  sawed  logs,  and  had  built  block  houses 
of  the  same  material  at  opposite  angles  of  a 
stockade,  inclosing  the  new  buildings,  thus 
making  a  defensive  retreat  in  case  of  an  out 
break  among  the  wards  of  the  Government. 
This  gave  a  sense  of  security  not  before  en 
joyed  to  such  employees  of  the  Government  as 
were  obliged  to  remain  in  contact  with  the 
Indians. 

The  season  had  advanced,  and  the  results  of 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil  were  visible.  The 
beetle  had  destroyed  the  potato  vines,  but  the 
grasshoppers  had  spared  the  corn.  The  white- 
men  with  Indian  wives  had  been  reasonably 


210  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

industrious,  and  fair  crops  were  the  result  of 
their  labor.  At  the  same  time  they  had  by 
their  example  and  influence  given  a  lesson  in 
agriculture  to  their  brothers-in-law  and  other 
Indian  relatives,  which  would  have  been  of 
great  importance  had  the  latter  shown  the  least 
desire  to  be  instructed,  but  it  was  entirely 
thrown  away,  and  the  squaws  were  still  the 
husbandmen. 

About  this  time  Mr.  William  Welsh,  of  Phil 
adelphia,  a  practical  philanthropist,  came  to 
the  agency  on  a  visit.  He  had  an  earnest  de 
sire  to  elevate  the  material  and  spiritual  condi 
tion  of  the  Indians.  His  plan  was  to  come 
among  them,  and  by  making  himself  familiar 
with  their  actual  condition,  to  be  able  to  sug 
gest  to  the  authorities  such  means  as  he 
thought  best  to  accomplish  the  good  sought. 
Spotted  Tail,  Swift  Bear,  and  the  warriors  who 
had  met  Mr.  Welsh  at  Philadelphia,  greeted 
their  benefactor  with  more  than  ordinary 
heartiness,  and  in  their  primitive  way  made  an 
effort  to  entertain  him. 

In  the  Council  that  was  held  the  various 
chiefs  and  headmen  represented  to  Mr.  Welsh 
the  evil  effects  produced  by  the  introduction  of 
intoxicating  liquors  among  their  friends,  and 
pictured  with  eloquence  scenes  in  their  quiet 
lives  when  they  were  away  from  its  baneful  in 
fluence,  and  from  association  with  such  white 


A  MONO    THE   SIOUX   OF   DAKOTA.  211 

men  as  brought  it  among  them.  In  this  con 
nection  a  circumstance  occurred  which  illus 
trates  the  difficulty  of  controlling  this  class  of 
men. 

The  land  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Missouri  river  was  known  as  Ceded  land,  and 
there  was  no  law  to  prevent  a  squatter  settling 
upon  it,  and  requiring  a  title  when  it  should  be 
for  entry  or  sale  by  the  Government.  If  the 
original  occujjant  could  not  thus  obtain  an  im 
mediate  title,  he  had  by  possession  a  recognized 
claim,  which  his  friends  and  neighbors  re 
spected.  To  "jump"  such  a  claim  might  bring 
into  use  the  shotgun  and  rifle;  the  sympathy  of 
the  community  being  always  on  the  side  of  the 
original  occupant ;  so  under  the  primitive  law 
of  the  locality  a  man  staked  out  his  claim  and 
built  his  log  hut  without  fear  of  being  dispos 
sessed,  taking  care  while  doing  so  to  have  his 
claim  conform  to  the  legal  sub-divisions  of  land 
known  as  " forties"  and  "eighties." 

A  squatter  had  established  himself  opposite 
the  agency  on  three  "forties,"  which  made 
a  tract  of  land  a  quarter  of  a  mile  deep 
and  three-quarters  long,  lying  immediately 
on  the  river  bank.  Here  he  built  a  ranch 
on  a  prominent  point  overlooking  the  agency 
grounds,  and  soon  became  notorious  in  the 
neighborhood  as  the  principal  vendor  of  villain 
ous  whiskey,  a  bold,  unscrupulous  man,  who 


212  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA 

by  his  secret  traffic  accumulated  a  good  deal  of 
the  currency  in  circulation  about  the  agency. 
The  chiefs  denounced  this  man,  and  wanted 
him  removed.  Mr.  Welsh  promised  to  have  it 
done,  and  as  he  could  not  invoke  the  law,  did 
the  next  best  thing,  and  very  generously 
bought  the  log  cabin,  and  the  shadow  of  title 
held  by  the  ranchman  on  the  three  "  forties," 
exacting,  as  part  of  the  bargain,  a  pledge  from 
the  man  that  he  would  leave  the  country. 
This  was  all  very  well,  and  apparently  a  good 
bargain,  ridding  the  Indians  of  a  mischievous 
enemy. 

But  soon  after  Mr.  Welsh's  departure  for  the 
East,  the  ranchman  returned  with  a  wagon  load 
of  whiskey,  staked  out  a  new  claim  of  three 
4  k  forties, ' '  next  to  those  which  he  had  sold,  and 
put  up  a  ranch,  which  was  quite  as  convenient 
for  his  business  as  the  first  one.  After  fully 
establishing  himself,  he  sent  word  to  the 
agency  that  he  would  like  to  sell  out  again, 
and  as  it  was  reported  that  he  had  received 
twelve  hundred  dollars  from  Mr  Welsh  for  his 
former  ranch  and  claim,  he  could  for  once 
be  believed,  and  he  had  no  takers. 

During  Mr.  Welsh' s  visit  a  large  quantity  of 
annuity  goods  were  received,  and  he  inspected 
the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  goods,  and  wit 
nessed  their  distribution.  In  a  council  he  spoke 
at  considerable  length  of  the  efforts  being  made 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  213 

to  procure,  from  this  time  on,  the  best  of 
blankets  and  provisions  for  the  use  of  the 
Indians,  and  his  remarks  met  with  constant 
expressions  of  approbation  and  approval  from 
his  hearers  ;  but  when  he  went  on  to  tell  of  his 
great  desire  to  establish  schools  and  churches 
among  them,  and  to  have  them  become  Chris 
tians,  I  was  constrained  to  notice  that  his  elo 
quence  elicited  no  "  hows,"  and  was  listened  to 
with  the  most  stolid  indifference  by  those  whom 
he  wished  to  benefit.  In  the  course  of  his 
remarks  Mr.  Welsh  spoke  of  having  lately 
seen  the  President  in  Washington,  and  in  tell 
ing  them  of  the  latter' s  interest  in  listening  to 
plans  to  send  them  the  best  of  supplies,  and 
ministers  and  teachers  for  them  and  their  chil 
dren,  he  said  that  he  had  the  ear  of  the  Great 
Father,  who  listened  to  his  words  spoken  for 
them.  Fire  Thunder  was  present,  but  had  not 
received  any  particular  amount  of  attention, 
and  being  opposed  to  the  making  of  any  per 
manent  improvements  at  the  agency,  and  to 
changing  his  nomadic  life,  he  was  inclined  to 
find  fault  if  possible.  Accordingly  when 
every  one  was  through  talking,  he  announced 
that  he  had  something  to  say  to  Mr.  Welsh. 
He  commenced  by  asking  the  latter  if  he  really 
intended  to  send  out  better  blankets  and  beef 
cattle,  and  to  build  churches  and  school  houses 
for  the  Indians.  Mr.  Welsh  replied  that  he 


214  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

certainly  did.  Then  Fire  Thunder  wished  to 
know  if  he  had  the  Great  Father' s  ear,  as  he 
had  said.  Again  Mr.  Welsh  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  "Then,"  said  Fire  Thunder,  "if 
you  have  the  Great  Father's  ear,  let's  see  it!" 
In  vain  Mr.  Welsh  tried  to  explain  that  it  was 
only  a  figure  of  speech.  Fire  Thunder  having 
announced  to  the  Indians  that  Mr.  Welsh  was 
a  liar,  and  like  all  white  men  made  a  great 
many  promises  but  did  not  fulfill  them,  drew 
his  blanket  about  him,  and  stalked  out  of  the 
council  room. 

Through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Welsh, 
church  service  was  held  at  the  agency  for  the 
first  time  in  its  history,  one  end  of  a  partially 
filled  store  house  doing  duty  as  chapel.  He 
also  succeeded  in  establishing  a  school  and 
having  a  teacher  appointed,  thus  fulfilling  im 
mediately  his  promise  to  the  Indians,  and  giv 
ing  them  proof  of  his  earnest  desire  to  place 
before  them  instrumentalities  for  gaining  knowl 
edge  of  a  better  life. 

Mr.  Welsh  remained  at  the  agency  for  i\ 
number  of  days,  and  was  much  impressed  with 
the  primitive  life  of  the  Indians,  and  the  great 
work  to  be  accomplished  to  bring  them  to  real 
ize  that  they  must  abandon  their  present  savage 
life  for  that  civilized  life  offered  by  white  men. 
He  left  the  agency  with  the  best  wishes  of  a  IT 
for  the  success  of  his  philanthropic  plans. 


AMONG   THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  215 

General  D.  S.  Stanley,  of  the  army,  also 
visited  the  agency.  He  commanded  the  mili 
tary  district  within  whose  boundary  were  lo 
cated  the  Sioux  Indians  of  Dakota,  both  those 
who  were  fed  and  clothed  at  the  agencies  upon 
the  Missouri  River  and  those  who  still  pro 
claimed  their  hostility,  and  remained  at  a  dis 
tance  in  camps  on  the  tributaries  of  the  Yellow 
stone  River.  The  General  was  well  known 
among  the  Sioux,  both  friendly  and  hostile, 
and  held  in  good  esteem  by  them.  It  was  the 
common  report  on  the  river  that  he  never 
turned  a  deaf  ear  toward  an  Indian  when  seek 
ing  counsel,  nor  allowed  him  to  depart  from 
his  door  when  needy,  without  some  substantial 
gift  of  food  or  clothing. 

This  contributed  to  mutual  good  will,  which 
was  productive  of  substantial  benefit  in  his 
dealings  with  these  people. 

Spotted  Tail  having  recovered  from  the  effects 
of  the  loss  of  his  favorite  wife,  began  to  recall 
the  promises  made  to  him  while  at  Washing 
ton,  and  to  make  inquiries  as  to  the  time  when 
he  should  be  allowed  to  select  the  location  for 
an  agency  on  White  River.  It  was  understood 
that  this  was  not  purely  a  movement  of  Spotted 
Tail  and  his  people,  or  of  the  Indians  at  the 
agency,  but  that  the  whites  and  half-breeds 
at  the  latter  place  were  interested  in  having  the 
change  accomplished,  as  it  would  involve  hav- 


AMONG   THE   SIOl'X   OF    DAKOTA. 

ing  all  the  supplies  transported  overland  from 
the  Missouri  River  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  and  about  the  same  distance  from  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad.  Of  course  this  would 
have  to  be  paid  for  by  the  Government,  at  a 
cost  of  many  thousands  of  dollars  every  year. 
There  was  a  ling  formed  to  reap  the  benefit  of 
this  outlay,  and,  strange  to  say,  it  was  outside 
of  Washington  influences,  although  connected 
with  Indian  affairs.  There  was  also  a  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  whites  associated  with  the 
Indians  to  work  their  way  toward  the  compara 
tively  unknown  El  Dorado  supposed  to  be  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Black  Hills. 

The  matter  of  locating  the  new  agency,  and 
the  plans  for  its  accomplishment,  had  to  go 
through  the  Department  and  its  immediate 
channels  for  approval — a  difficult  route  to  navi 
gate,  requiring  much  time. 


AMONG  THE   SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  217 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


SIOUX  INDIANS  AS  HISTORIANS  -  HUNTING  ON  THE  REPUBLI 
CAN  IN  KANSAS  —  NUMBER  OF  BEEF  CATTLE  ON  HAND  — 
WOLF  HUNT  OF  MEDICINE  MEN. 


Sioux  Indians  do  not  possess  knowledge 
that  enables  them  to  make  lasting  records 
of  events.  They  erect  no  monuments,  neither 
transcribe  upon  paper,  plate  or  parchment, 
episodes  in  their  existence  that  can  be  de 
ciphered  by  succeeding  generations.  Their 
rude  hieroglyphics  painted  upon  buffalo  robes, 
rocks  or  tepees,  may  recall  some  idea  of  the 
succession  of  events  in  the  history  of  some 
individual  or  band  belonging  to  a  tribe  ;  but  as 
a  record  to  be  translated  by  others  than  the 
actors  or  their  cotemporaries  they  are  of  no 
use.  So  far  as  I  was  able  to  understand,  their 
only  history  was  in  the  legends  passed  from 
one  to  another.  It  was  one  of  their  favorite 
pastimes  to  recount  these  inau  then  tic  narra 
tives,  and  groups  of  the  men  would  often  be 
seen,  one  leading  in  the  recountal  of  some 
daring  deed  of  an  individual  or  of  some  en- 


218  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

counter  with  their  hereditary  enemies  the 
Pawnees  or  Crows,  the  others  listening  with 
many  marks  of  interest  and  even  excitement ; 
for  among  themselves  the  Sioux  are  far  from 
stoical  or  undemonstrative.  Incidents  re 
counted  in  this  way  soon  become  changed,  and 
the  narrators  tell  the  wildest  and  most  improb 
able  stories  with  little  or  no  inteat'on  of  exag 
geration.  It  was  something  in  this  way  that 
Spotted  Tail,  upon  his  return  from  Washing 
ton,  created  a  false  impression  upon  his  listen 
ers  on  at  least  one  subject.  He  had  kept  no 
record  of  events  during  a  long  journey 
crowded  with  strange  scenes  and  incidents, 
and  he  had  spoken  so  often  while  in  Washing 
ton  on  the  subject  of  his  people  being  allowed 
to  leave  their  reservation  to  hunt  buffalo  on 
the  Republican,  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  he  finally  came  to  believe  that  his  re 
quest  had  been  granted,  while  in  truth  no 
direct  reply  had  been  given.  It  was  on  this 
subject  that  he  was  most  eagerly  questioned 
on  his  return,  and  it  was  the  theme  of  many 
councils.  Finding  that  there  was  a  strong 
impression  that  permission  had  been  given,  I 
referred  the  subject  to  Washing  ton,,  and  an 
official  denial  in  writing  at  last  put  an  end  to 
the  question, 

Soon  after  my  return  from  the  East,  a  change 
was  made  in.the  manner  of  purchasing  supplies 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  219 

for  the  daily  food  of  the  Indians,  the  business 
being  again  placed  under  the  control  of  the 
same  department  that  administered  upon  their 
affairs.  This  largely  increased  the  responsi 
bilities  of  the  agent,  and  gave  him  abundant 
opportunity  for  the  display  of  executive  ability. 
Heretofore  the  stores  had  been  under  the  con 
trol  of  an  officer,  who  was  not  only  responsible 
to  the  Commissary  Department  of  the  Army, 
but,  in  addition,  had  the  verification  of  the 
quantity  of  the  articles  which  arrived  at  the 
agency,  and  was  required  to  see  that  they  Avere 
properly  stored.  He  then  issued  them  from 
time  to  time  as  called  upon  by  the  agent. 
Under  the  regime  of  the  Commissary  Depart 
ment,  the  beef  cattle  had  been  kept  by  the 
contractor  until  wanted,  the  commissary  officer 
receiving  only  such  number  as  would  be  re 
quired  to  fill  the  orders  of  the  agent  for  the 
time  being,  thereby  placing  the  cost  and  risk  of 
maintenance  upon  the  contractor,  and  dividing 
the  accountability  between  the  commissary 
officer  and  the  agent.  But  there  are  different 
modes  of  transacting  public  business,  and  any 
comparisons  might  be  invidious. 

The  Indians  could  not  hunt  buffalo,  but  they 
could  feast  their  eyes  upon  a  herd  of  two 
thousand  head  of  broad-horned  cattle  that 
dotted  the  prairie  hard  by  their  habitations, 
and  gave  promise  of  an  abundance  of  food. 


220  AMONG   THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

Under  orders  I  had  received  this  number,  and 
of  course  had  to  account  for  them  ;  also  to  see 
that  they  were  properly  herded  and  kept  on 
good  grazing  ground  ;  that  their  valuable  flesh, 
bought  and  paid  for  by  the  Government,  should 
not  be  lessened  from  lack  of  proper  sustenance 
before  they  were  issued  and  consumed  by  the 
Indians.  It  was  one  thing  to  receive  fat  cattle 
and  another  to  keep  them  so  for  months  upon 
the  prairie  grass  of  Dakota,  commencing  in 
July,  when  the  hot  winds  and  scorching  sun 
had  destroyed  much  of  the  vegetation.  The 
large  herd  had  to  be  divided  into  at  least  three, 
with  a  corps  of  herders  with  each,  and  kept 
from  twenty  to  thirty  miles  away  from  the 
agency,  for  the  Indians  had  on  hand  nearly 
fifteen  hundred  ponies,  who  consumed  all  the 
grass  in  the  vicinity,  Frequent  visits  were 
necessary  to  inspect  the  different  herds,  to 
verify  their  numbers,  and  to  watch  a  not  over 
scrupulous  set  who  would  not  guard  the  inter 
ests  of  the  Government  any  too  faithfully  with 
the  best  overseeing.  Then,  too,  there  were 
stories  afloat  in  the  buoyant  atmosphere  which 
surrounds  an  Indian  agency  that  these  cattle, 
having  been  received  at  Whetstone,  were  to  be 
driven  to  other  agencies  to  be  receipted  for 
again,  which  was  by  no  means  a  physical  im 
possibility,  and  altogether  a  more  probable 
proceeding  than  many  of  the  dishonest  tricks 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  221 

charged  to  those  who  have  the  fortune  to  be 
agents  for  the  ubiquitous  Indians. 

An  Episcopal  minister  from  Sioux  City,  who 
was  spending  a  part  of  his  summer  vacation  at 
the  agency,  enjoying  the  wild  life  and  the 
removal  from  every-day  scenes,  accompanied 
me  on  one  of  my  inspecting  tours,  together 
with  the  physician  at  the  agency.  We  had  a 
delightful  ride  over  the  prairie  in  the  direction 
of  Ponca  Creek,  along  whose  banks  was  the 
best  of  pasturage,  and  whose  waters  furnished 
the  coolest  of  draughts.  It  was  late  in  the  day 
before  the  object  of  our  visit  was  accomplished, 
and  we  had  to  camp  for  the  night  and  partake 
of  a  herder's  meal.  The  latter  consisted  of 
"  jerked  beef,"  cooked  by  placing  a  piece  of 
it  upon  the  end  of  a  stick,  and  holding  it  near 
a  camp  fire  until  roasted,  a  slice  of  bacon  pre 
pared  in  the  same  way,  coffee  and  hard  biscuit, 
and  altogether  made  a  delightful  repast, 
relished  after  a  ride  of  thirty  miles  in  the 
pure  bracing  air  of  the  prairie. 

After  the  siesta  and  smoke  in  the  twilight, 
by  the  flickering  light  of  the  camp  fire,  enliv 
ened  by  song  and  story,  we  retired  to  our  tent, 
spread  our  blankets,  and  were  soon  soundly 
sleeping.  About  midnight  my  two  friends  were 
aroused  from  their  slumber  by  the  noise  un 
usual  to  them,  of  the  crying  of  a  pack  of  wolves, 
who  had  taken  position  on  the  opposite  bank 


222  AMONG   THE   SIOl'X   OF  DAKOTA. 

of  the  creek,  and  who  barked  and  howled  their 
lamentations  to  such  an  extent  as  to  dispel  all 
sleep  for  the  time.  Finding  that  their  un 
earthly  noises  did  not  drive  us  away,  they  finally 
retired,  but  not  so  my  guests.  There  was  no 
more  sleep  for  them,  and  they  spent  the  re 
mainder  of  the  night  in  listening  to  every  slight 
noise  without  our  tent,  imagining  it  was  the 
approach  of  a  stealthy  wolf.  At  last  they 
were  sure  that  they  heard  one  dragging  his  tail 
through  the  tall  grass.  The  two  doctors  peered 
into  the  darkness,  through  a  crack  in  the  door 
of  the  tent,  one  above  the  other,  each  with  rifle 
ready.  Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  skulking 
animal.  By  a  whispered  conference,  it  was 
agreed  that  they  should  fire  together  at  a  given 
signal.  About  this  time  I  roused  up,  and,  seeing 
them  on  the  watch,  inquired  the  cause  of  their 
unusual  excitement.  They  told  me  to  listen  to 
the  wolf  dragging  his  tail  in  the  grass  near  at 
hand.  I  boldly  announced  that  wolves  did  not 
drag  their  tails,  and  suggested  that  it  might  be 
one  of  our  horses,  who  had  gotten  loose,  and 
was  dragging  his  lariat.  A  more  careful  recon 
noitre  proved  this  to  be  the  case.  My  interfer 
ence  came  none  too  soon,  for  in  another  minute 
the  two  medicine  men  would  have  buried  the 
contents  of  their  rifles  in  the  side  of  one  of  our 
best  horses. 

On    our    return    to  the  agency  next    day, 


AMONG   THE   SIOl'X   OF  DAKOTA.  223 

they  shared  the  honors  of  their  wolf  hunt. 
In  due  time  the  iinal  arrangements  were  com 
pleted  for  the  movement  of  the  Indians  to  their 
new  agency  on  White  River,  and  the  first  pro 
visions,  including  cattle,  were  forwarded  to  that 
point,  which  was  to  be  designated  for  the  time 
being  their  permanent  home. 

The  Indians  entered  upon  the  new  movement 
with  apparent  delight,  their  instincts  leading 
them  always  in  the  direction  of  change.  Old 
hearth-stones  or  familiar  scenes,  with  hallowed 
memories,  do  not  enter  into  their  ken,  and  a 
home  permanently  located  has  no  charm  for 
them.  Any  spot  on  the  broad  prairie,  which 
will  supply  a  few  natural  wants,  will  be  made 
in  an  hour  or  two  their  local  habitation.  So, 
still  clinging  to  their  nomadic  habits,  they  fol 
lowed,  with  'alacrity,  after  the  new  base  of  sup 
plies.  The  bottom  lands  of  White  River  and 
its  tributaries  possessed  no  more  arable  land 
than  those  of  Whetstone  Cieek  and  the  Mis 
souri;  but  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  with  all 
the  inducements  offered,  was  only  a  matter  to 
be  discussed  in  council,  and  kept  an  open  ques 
tion,  to  be  again  and  again  resorted  to  as  a  pos 
sible  future  contingency. 

They  had  been  abundantly  supplied  with  ex 
cellent  food  and  a  reasonable  amount  of  cloth 
ing,  but  they  were  not  satisfied.  Conciliatory 
measures  dominating  among  those  in  authority, 


224  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

a  change  was  considered  necessary,  regardless 
of  cost,  and  their  wishes  were  gratified. 

The  chiefs  and  warriors  who  had  been 
favored  with  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
works  of  white  men  were  not  zealous  in  expa 
tiating  upon  the  wonders  seen  in  the  East.  I 
think  they  refrained  from  telling  their  ex 
perience,  fearing  that  they  would  lose  caste 
among  their  less  enlightened  associates — a  re 
sult  predicted  by  Spotted  Tail.  Their  visit  was 
never  referred  to  except  incidentally,  and  then 
only  in  connection  with  some  promise  that  had 
been  made. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  a  little  of  the  leaven, 
which  might  eventually  leaven  the  whole  lump. 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA.  225 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

LEAVE  THE  SIOUX   AFTER    EIGHTEEN    MONTHS'    INTERCOURSE — 
SOME    REFLECTIONS    ON    THE    INDIAN    QUESTION. 

TN  December,  1870,  I  took  leave  of  the  Sioux 
Indians,  and  returned  to  my  usual  duties. 
In  the  eighteen  months'  of  my  intercourse  with 
them,  I  had  seen  many  things  to  make  my 
association  far  from  disagreeable.  Their  simple 
form  of  government,  their  picturesque  dress 
and  habitations,  their  patriarchal  surround 
ings,  their  hospitality,  the  bravery  and  endur 
ance  of  the  men,  and  the  virtue  and  faithful 
ness  of  the  women,  were  to  be  admired. 

I  had  seen  them  in  their  villages,  removed 
from  disturbing  influences,  living  in  quiet  and 
peaceful  contentment.  They  were  easily  per 
suaded  and  governed. 

But  a  disturbing  element  as  old  as  the  dis 
covery  of  the  continent,  was  at  hand.  The 
white  man,  a  representative  of  a  superior  race, 
armed  with  greater  knowledge,  created  discon 
tent  and  brought  confusion  into  their  councils, 
and  made  the  administration  of  Indian  affairs 


226  AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA. 

an  unsatisfactory  work  from  which  I  was  glad 
to  escape.  The  superior  race,  moved  by  an  un 
controlled  and  restless  spirit  of  enterprise,  will 
carry  civilization  and  its  accompaniments 
throughout  the  extent  of  our  country,  and  in 
its  rapid  progress,  ever  encroaches  ruthlessly 
upon  the  domains  of  the  Indians,  in  spite  of 
treaties  and  promised  protection.  Policies  are 
inaugurated  and  pursued  according  to  the  dic 
tates  of  the  ruling  sentiment  of  the  hour.  The 
philanthropist  with  Utopian  ideas,  would  have 
the  Indian  secluded  from  contact  with  the 
pioneer,  who  is  engaged  in  planting  the  seeds  of 
future  civilization  near  the  Indians'  posses 
sions,  and  the  pioneer  finding  the  latter  a  trou 
blesome  neighbor,  cumbering  the  ground,  would 
have  him  exterminated  ;  while  the  spirit  of  fair 
play,  dominant  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  sug 
gests  means  to  ameliorate  the  asperities  inci 
dent  to  the  inevitable  conflict,  various  views  are 
advocated,  and  the  results  of  wide  discussion 
are  crystalized  into  laws,  the  application  of 
which  make  the  actual  plan  followed  in  deal 
ing  with  the  Indians,  who  being  the  weaker 
party  must  accept  the  consequences  if  remain 
ing  within  their  jurisdiction.  ,  The  Sioux  are 
still  a  no  contemptible  power,  and  when  further 
encroachments  shall  compel  them  to  act,  have 
the  means  to  save  their  customs  and  mode  of 
life  from  the  inexorable  fate  which  will  over- 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  227 

take  the  weaker  tribes.  The  strong  and  active 
are  not  likely  to  surrender  their  cherished 
habits  without  a  struggle,  after  which  they  may 
fold  their  tepees,  and  journeying  over  well 
known  trails,  join  their  friends  and  relations 
across  our  northern  boundary,  and  find  a  new 
hunting  park  in  a  not  unfamiliar  land,  where 
the  encroachments  of  the  settler  do  not  make 
such  rapid  strides,  and  a  fixed  policy  secures 
the  fulfillment  of  all  promises  made. 

The  various  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
Indian  agent,  doing  duty  in  the  far  west,  have 
been  touched  upon  in  this  narrative.  Without 
the  boundaries  of  civilization,  isolated  from  the 
associations  and  comforts  of  a  home,  pestered 
and  tormented  by  some  of  the  worst  specimens 
of  white  humanity,  seeing  the  credulity  of  the 
Indians  imposed  upon,  and  the  good  effects  of 
honorable  dealing  neutralized,  often  traduced 
and  villified  by  men  whom  he  may  have 
thwarted  in  some  nefarious  scheme,  made  to 
share  the  consequences  of  deficiency  in  sup 
plies  over  which  he  never  had  control,*  and 
made  responsible  by  the  public  for  any  out 
break  among  the.  untamed  and  tantalized  sav 
ages  under  his  charge,  his  lines  are  not  cast  in 
pleasant  places. 

It  has  come  to  be  believed  that  association 
with  the  Indian  leads  to  dishonesty.  On  the 
contrary,  I  believe  the  tendency  is  the  other 


228  AMONG   THE   SIOUX   OF  DAKOTA. 

way;  the  simple  confidence  which,  the  Indian 
places  in  his  agent,  makes  the  latter  his  pro 
tector,  and,  unless  a  very  depraved  character, 
he  will  naturally  guard  him  and  his  rights. 

The  theoretical  rules  for  the  transaction  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Indians  are  one  thing,  and  the 
practical  application  of  the  rules  when  mingling 
with  them  in  the  every  day  discharge  of  duty, 
is  another.  Usually  the  Indian  agent  comes  in 
contact  with  his  duties  perfectly  unprepared 
by  experience.  He  has  a  few  lines  of  vague 
generalities  about  the  beneficence  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  and  a  book  of  regulations  containing 
the  theoretical  rules  for  his  guidance.  With 
these  he  is  expected  to  cope  with  difficulties 
and  effect  grand  improvements. 

The  amount  of  money  annually  expended  at 
each  of  the  large  agencies  in  the  West,  would  in 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  life  demand  ability  in 
the  agent,  which  would  have  a  market  value  of 
at  least  three-fold  the  amount  now  allowed  by 
law  to  an  Indian  agent.  Any  mercantile  house 
in  the  East,  having  a  branch  in  some  isolated 
locality  in  the  far  West,  which  transacted  a 
business  amounting  to  half  a  million  of  dollars 
a  year,  would  see  to  it  that  they  not  only  had 
an  experienced  and  competent  agent,  but  that 
he  was  fully  compensated  for  the  trials  and 
vicissitudes  incident  to  his  location  and  the 
duties  which  he  performed.  He  would  be  often 


AMONG  THE  SIOUX  OF  DAKOTA.  229 

visited,  his  accounts  scrutinized,  and  his  duties 
supervised.  He  would  be  encouraged  in  the 
direction  of  making  him  a  good  and  faithful 
representative  of  his  employers,  and  would  be 
assured  of  reward  for  faithful  service  done. 

The  reverse  of  this  usually  awaits  the  Indian 
agent;  he  is  occasionally  visited  by  parties  fol 
lowing  the  scent  of  some  supposed  rascality, 
but  left  to  himself  and  his  labors,  if  he  escapes 
the  usual  charge  of  dishonesty;  and  his  faith 
ful  service  is  m'ore  than  likely  to  be  rewarded 
by  summary  dismissal  to  make  place  for  his 
successor. 

According  to  the  laws  of  compensation,  the 
Indian  agent  is  about  what  he  is  made  by  his 
employers,  and  the  latter  obtain  what  they  bar 
gain  for.  Therefore,  it  is  reasonable  to  believe 
that  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
actual  condition  of  affairs  among  the  Indians, 
by  those  who  control  the  actions  of  the  agent  in 
their  midst,  and  a  more  thorough  system  of 
accountability,  an  increased  salary,  and  longer 
term  of  office  for  the  agent,  with  some  surety 
of  reward  for  faithful  service,  would  be  of  im 
mense  gain,  and  would  take  but  a  moiety  from 
the  millions  of  dollars  annually  expended  by  a 
beneficent  Government  upon  the  Indians  of  the 
plains. 


APPENDIX. 


REPORT  OF  BREVET-MAJOR  GENERAL 
D.  S.  STANLEY,  U.  S.  A. 

HEADQUARTERS,  MIDDLE  DISTRICT,  j 
FORT  SULLY,  D.  T., 

August,  20, 1869.      ) 

General : 

I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  following  as 
the  Indian  tribes  and  bands  in  this  district  with 
approximate  numbers  of  each,  and  nearest  mili 
tary  post  or  agency  to  which  the  several  bands 
resort ;  also  their  division  into  hostile  and 
peaceable : 

1.  Gros  Ventres,   Mandans,   and  Rees,  two 
thousand;  Fort  Stevenson  and  Berthold.  Peace 
able. 

2.  Upper  Yanctonais,  three  thousand  ;   Forts 
Rice  and  Grand  River  ;  range  to  Yellowstone. 
Mostly  peaceable. 

3.  Oncpapas,  two  thousand ;  Forts  Rice  and 


232  APPENDIX. 

Grand  River.     Fifteen  hundred  hostile;   five 
hundred  peaceable. 

4.  Blackfeet   Sioux,    nine  hundred  ;     Grand 
River.     Two  hundred  hostile ;  seven  hundred 
peaceable. 

5.  Two  Kettles,  fifteen  hundred  ;  Forts  Sully 
and  Thompson.      Five  hundred  hostile  ;  one 
thousand  peaceable. 

6.  Sans    Arcs,  fifteen  hundred ;  Fort  Sully. 
One  thousand  hostile;  five  hundred  peaceable. 

7.  Minneconjoux,  two  thousand;  Forts  Sully 
and  Grand  River.      Sixteen  hundred  hostile; 
four  hundred  peaceable. 

8.  Upper    Brules,     fifteen     hundred ;    Fort 
Sully  and  White  River.     Eight  hundred  hos 
tile  ;  seven  hundred  peaceable. 

9.  Lower  Yanctonais,    one  thousand ;   Fort 
Thompson.     Peaceable. 

10.  Brules  of  the    Platte,    fifteen  hundred; 
Whetstone.     Supposed  peaceable. 

11.  Ogallalas,   two    thousand;     Whetstone. 
Fifteen  hundred  hostile  ;  five  hundred  peace 
able. 

12.  Yanctons,     twenty-five    hundred;     Fort 
Randall.     Peaceable. 

The  Gros  Yentres,  Mandans,  and  Rees  are 
well  behaved,  and  give  no  trouble.  They  are 
at  war  with  the  friendly  Sioux,  but  have  peace 


APPENDIX.         .  233 

with  the  hostile  Oncpapas  and  Minneconjoux, 
and  carry  on  a  trade  with  them. 

The  Upper  Yanctonais,  ruled  by  the  chiefs 
"Two  Bears"  and  "Black  Eyes,"  are  perhaps 
the  best  behaved  Indians  on  the  river. 

The  Oncpapas  are  turbulent  and  mischiev 
ous.  Those  who  pretend  to  be  friendly  live  at 
Grand  River  reservation,  but  give  so  much 
trouble  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  agency 
can  be  kept  on  that  side.  Their  chief  is  "Bear 
Rib." 

The  Blackfeet  Sioux  are  quiet  and  well  be 
haved.  Their  principal  chief  is  "The  Grass. " 

The  Two  Kettles,  Sans  Arcs  and  Minnecon 
joux  draw  rations  at  Cheyenne.  The  first  two 
are  quiet ;  the  Minneconjoux  are  turbulent  and 
very  insolent.  The  chief  of  the  Two  Kettles  is 
the  "  Tall  Mandan  ;"  of  the  Sans  Arcs,  "  Burnt 
Face;"  of  the  Minneconjoux,  the  "  Iron  Horn" 
and  "Little  White  Swan." 

The  Lower  Brules  have  a  reservation  and 
cultivate  at  White  River  ;  draw  rations  at  Fort 
Thompson.  They  acknowledge  no  chief  ;  are 
perfect  Ishmaelites,  wandering  in  small  bands 
thousands  of  miles  over  the  prairies ;  are 
treacherous  beyond  all  other  Sioux,  and  com 
mit  most  of  the  rascalities  which  occur  in  this 
district. 

The  Lower  Yanctonais  are  peaceable,  and  are 
trying  to  farm  at  Fort  Thompson. 


234  APPENDIX. 

The  Brules  of  the  Platte  generally  stay  from 
twenty  to  one  hundred  miles  ont  from  Whet 
stone,  coming  into  that  place  for  their  pro 
visions.  Their  disposition  is  very  suspicions, 
and,  like  their  brethren,  the  Upper  Brules,  are 
not  to  be  trusted. 

The  Ogallalas,  at  Whetstone,  are  well  be 
haved. 

At  the  agencies  established  for  the  Sioux, 
there  is  one  class  of  Indians  which  has  been 
friendly  for  four  or  five  years,  and  are  nearly 
permanent  residents,  only  leaving  from  time 
to  time  to  hunt  or  pick  wild  fruit.  With  this 
class  there  is  no  trouble.  There  is  another 
class  passing  half  their  time  at  these  agencies 
and  half  in  the  hostile  camps.  They  abuse 
the  agents,  threaten  their  lives,  kill  their  cattle 
at  night,  and  do  anything  they  can  to  oppose 
the  civilizing  movement,  but  eat  all  the  pro 
visions  they  can  get,  and  thus  far  have  taken 
no  lives. 

If  the  agencies  were  removed  east  of  the 
Missouri  we  could  suppress  these  violent  and 
troublesome  fellows.  The  hostiles  have  re 
presentatives  from  every  band  ;  but  the  lead 
ing  band  in  hostility  is  the  Oncpapas. 

During  the  winter  for  the  past  two  years, 
almost  the  entire  hostile  Sioux  have  camped 
together  in  one  big  camp  on  the  Rosebud,  near 
the  Yellowstone.  In  the  summer  time  they 


APPENDIX.  235 

break  up  and  spread  over  the  prairies  either  to 
hunt,  plunder,  or  come  into  the  posts  to,  beg. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

D.  S.  STANLEY, 
Col.  22d  Infantry,  Bvt.  Maj.  Gen. 

Bvt.  Brig'r  General  O.  D.  GREENE,  U.S.A., 

Asst.  Adjt.  Gen.  Dept.  of  Dakota. 


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